Maximum Efficiency and Substantially Reduced System Costs: SMA Sunny Central 800CP Distinguished with the Intersolar Award 2010


SMA Solar Technology AG received the Intersolar Award in the photovoltaics category at this year’s Intersolar in Munich. The prize was awarded for the entirely redesigned Sunny Central 800CP. “CP” stands for compact power: the new SMA central inverters offer both superior output and performance in a small space, and is the first PV inverter to offer 800 kVA of nominal power in combination with 98.6% efficiency as a single device. Its compact and weatherproof housing also makes it easy to load, offers simple transportation, and can be set up nearly anywhere. An additional reason for the distinction was the enormous cost-minimizing potential that the central inverter offers for the realization of large-scale plants.

SMA has received the Intersolar Award for the second time, once again demonstrating the company’s innovative strength in various market segments. The company received the award for Sunny Boy 5000TL in 2008, ideal for the private rooftop plant segment. This time the award was given to Sunny Central 800CP. The SMA central inverter is specially designed for use in solar power plants, and impressed the jury with its high level of efficiency and contribution to system cost reduction.

Maximum efficiency and integrated monitoring functions ensure highly reduced system costs

“The SC 800CP redefines system technology for large-scale plants and makes them economical in the long run by consistently following SMA’s development strategy: integrating top performance and the latest technologies into an exceedingly compact inverter. That has allowed SMA to dramatically lower system costs and simultaneously increase inverter efficiency,” says Jürgen Reekers, who received the award and heads the Central Inverter Development Division at SMA. The background situation: central inverters in this performance category have traditionally been housed in concrete stations, which not only meant substantial material and transport costs, but also respectively high levels of CO2 emissions. Even plant monitoring – previously distributed across the field – is associated with significant planning and installation expenditure. With the new Sunny Central 800CP, SMA is now able to increase performance by over 25% as compared to comparable devices and simultaneously reduce system costs by up to 35%, thus considerably increasing the large-scale plant operating efficiency.