Recording of Wednesday, June 19, 2024 | The smarter E Europe 2024 | Exhibition Program | Language: English | Duration: 11:55 .
Alexander Plonka from Siemens KACO Energy discusses the future of utility-scale battery systems with a focus on string inverters. KACO Energy, a 100% subsidiary of Siemens known for its high-quality German-made CNI battery inverters, has seen significant market success, selling over 3,800 units last fiscal year amounting to more than 450 megawatts. String inverters are gaining traction due to their easier maintenance (serviceability), higher system uptime when individual units fail, and greater flexibility allowing incremental capacity additions as technology evolves. This shift parallels trends already observed in solar photovoltaics moving from central to string inverter deployments. To address this trend at KACO, they are developing tools that enable an honest comparison between central and string inverter solutions based on various parameters such as installed capacity, operational efficiency, reliability costs under failure conditions, and investment costs. These comparisons help determine optimal configurations tailored to each customer's specific needs while supporting both technologies depending on project requirements.
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Large installations are developing rapidly, and innovative applications in this area are on the rise: Hybrid power plants combine PV with wind or batteries or both, while floating PV uses water surfaces as power plant sites. This session will present projects such as Europe's largest floating PV installation and Sukari, the world's largest off-grid hybrid power plant. The latest trends in project development, EPC, O&M and Asset Management will also be discussed.