SMA’s decentralized inverter solutions have been selected for the largest PV plant in Honduras. The 24-MW Pavana Solar Park in Choluteca will feature a decentralized system design with 880 Sunny Tripower 24000TL-US three-phase, transformerless inverters and 22 SMA Cluster Controllers for advanced system monitoring and control. The power plant, designed by Orlando, Florida-based EPC Sybac Solar LLC, is expected to be complete early next year.
Sybac Solar chose a decentralized approach for the Pavana Solar Park for myriad reasons, including reduced upfront and long-term costs, increased energy production and restricted site accessibility. Moreover, the redundancy provided by multiple inverters will preserve system uptime, protecting against lost profits.
“For a project of this size, the Sunny Tripower was the logical choice because it combines the sophistication of SMA’s utility-scale approach and the benefits of a decentralized PV design concept,” said Henry Dziuba, president and general manager of SMA America. “The Sunny Tripower will provide the Pavana Solar Park with high efficiency, reduced installation costs and simplified transportation, among many other benefits.”
Owned by Honduran energy company Energia Basica S.A., the Pavana Solar Park will also include 79,200 Yingli solar modules. When combined with the Sunny Tripower inverters, the system is expected to generate more than 42 GWh per year, enough to cover the annual energy consumption of about 61,000 Honduran households.
“System downtime was the main concern with the Pavana Solar Park, which is why the decentralized design concept with the Sunny Tripower and Cluster Controller was the ideal solution,” said Markus Falz, CEO of Sybac Solar. “We chose SMA products because they offer class-leading reliability backed by unmatched service support and warranties.”
The Sunny Tripower TL-US is UL listed for up to 1,000 V DC maximum system voltage and has a peak efficiency above 98 percent, while OptiTrac™ Global Peak minimizes the effects of shade for maximum energy production. Also available in 12, 15 and 20 kilowatt models, the Sunny Tripower TL-US delivers full grid management functionality, cutting-edge communications and advanced monitoring. It is also equipped with all-pole ground fault protection and integrated AFCI for a safe, reliable solution. The Sunny Tripower TL-US offers unmatched flexibility with a wide input voltage range and two independent MPP trackers. Suitable for both 600 V DC and 1,000 V DC applications, it allows for flexible design and a lower levelized cost of energy.
Meanwhile, the SMA Cluster Controller offers reliable monitoring and control of up to 75 inverters, thanks to its Ethernet-based Speedwire fieldbus and high-performance, dual-core processor. Advantages of the SMA Cluster Controller include optimum data transmission rates for plant monitoring and fast processing of the measured values, status updates, and plant control commands. Furthermore, a variety of sensor connection options allow for precise evaluation of plant power, which also can be viewed via the Sunny Portal Web-based PV monitoring platform.
The Sunny Tripower TL-US and Cluster Controller are available through SMA’s North American distribution program. To locate an SMA Authorized Distributor, solar professionals can visit SMA America’s website and click “Where to Buy” to learn more about each distribution partner.
— Solar Builder magazine
[source: http://solarbuildermag.com/news/sma-america-inverters-power-largest-pv-plant-honduras/]
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