Out with the old… A guide to successful inverter replacement

As the number of PV systems already in operation for several years grows, demand for “revamping” by replacement off all the inverters in a project is estimated at several gigawatts per year and expected to increase rapidly through the 2020s. There are a number of reasons why project owners are taking interest in this strategy. In some cases, older inverters may simply be underperforming, or may be struggling to get hold of replacement parts for models no longer manufactured or suppliers that have since left the market. For younger projects as well, issues with poor installation, system design or product quality also lead owners to consider inverter placement.

Revamping a project with new inverters has already been shown to pay off, and as demand begins to broaden from regions such as Italy, Germany and Spain that have a larger based of projects more than five years old, pv magazine is partnering with Sungrow to take a look into the advantages and potential pitfalls of inverter replacement.