At what point do the total installed costs make it wiser to go with central instead of string inverters? With new higher output, 1500VDC string inverters hitting the market, string inverters can be combined to create a “Virtual Central Inverter”, a system design concept developed by Sungrow. The combined set of string inverters would be controlled as a single, power conditioning system through a single, SCADA interface, creating one point of command and control for the entire group of string inverters. The end result is a solar PV system can reap the benefits of both string and central inverters. This white paper explains the “Virtual Central Inverter” design concept in deeper detail, an idea which illustrates how string inverters may soon be the ideal choice for utility-scale PV projects of the future.
