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Choosing the right Solar inverter:

Central vs String inverters?
 Published on September 23, 2020
Photo: Business Wire

Khalid Hameed

Senior Project Engineer at Vattenfall

8 articles Follow

According to IHS Markit in 2020 new Solar installations worldwide will reach 142
GW: an increase of 14% from year 2019. IHS predicts that solar installation will
reach close to 300 GW by 2020. With diminishing returns albeit exponential PV
growth has shifted the focus on improving the PV plant performance.

Diminishing solar subsidies and record low tariffs around the world have resulted in
competitive Solar EPC prices. Declining module prices has pushed EPC providers to
rethink their procurement value chains. Central inverters are industry wide
preferred choice due to lower CAPEX but string inverters are gaining traction
because of lower O&M costs and higher yield returns.

The article outlines the pros and cons of string and central inverters. Inverter
selection is a central task in the initial stages of a project design. The solar market
offers a wide variety of inverters ranging from a several kilowatts kWs to a
megawatt MW scale. Recently string inverters are used in large solar plants and we
will continue to witness increasing trend of string inverters in the future.

STRING INVERTER
Figure below shows string inverter architecture. String inverter outputs are
collected by combiner box which is then connected to the LV side of transformer.
There could be many variations but we will use the most simplified approach here.

Higher Plant Availability:

In the above example fault between inverter and combiner box will only effect a
section of the plant (264 kW) instead of 2.6 MVA station.
String inverter can be swapped instantly with spare inverters on site by any
technician. If a 1-2 MW central inverter station goes down, a highly specialised
technician needs to troubleshoot the system which can take up to few days resulting
in revenue losses.

In case of central inverter isolation of one section is not possible whole Trafo station
need to be isolated and shut down causing substantial production loss.

Granular monitoring: 

String inverter can be monitored up to the string level with more visibility of the
underperforming strings.

Central inverters offer string monitoring but doesn't allow to compensate for
mismatch loss between different strings due to single MPPT tracker. For string
inverter we have 3 MPPT trackers/Inverter and 8 inverters/Combiner box which
results in 240 MPPT trackers per trafo station. This level of granularity is not
possible with central inverters.

Design flexibility: 
String inverter with several MPPT trackers allows different module types to be used
and design flexibility by minimising shadowing. Different module configurations
can be combined (South West, South South) resulting in higher flexibility.

High yield: 

String inverter results in lower mismatch losses due to its granular MPPT tracking.
Panels degrade at different rates over time and the output will always be limited by
the poorest performing module in a string. With a single MPPT for 1 MW+ field, a
small number of degraded modules can affect the long term performance of the
plant.

Temperature degradation
Modules produce 4% less energy for every 10°C increase in temperature. Modules
experience different temperatures with modules close to the edges being cooler
than the ones in the middle, leading to mismatch losses. An example below shows a
temperature difference of 20 °C during the day.

Low voltage startup losses

Lower MPPT voltage allows the inverters to make use of early sunlight and operate
in the MPPT range. As the central inverters uses 1 MPPT tracker, in early morning
hours minimum MPPT voltage is not reached thus resulting in losses due to
morning energy not being capitalised.

In contrast string inverters have multiple MPPT trackers that allow different strings
to be started individually thus not affecting the remaining strings in the plant.
Fast Delivery times:

Central inverters are ordered to built order with longer lead times, often stretching
to 3-6 months during the peak demand season. String inverters have been the top
choice of developers due to challenging grid connection deadlines. 

Lower Downtime

One faulty string inverter can be replaced within hours while 1 MW central inverter
can take up to 24 hours to be back online resulting in substantial revenue loss. For
remote locations the repair time can be up to days. String inverter can be swapped
from the on-site spare parts without a specialised technician. 

CENTRAL INVERTER 
Central inverters usually have 1-2 MPPT trackers resulting in significant mismatch
loss. Though string monitoring can help investigate any underperforming string but
doesn't allow to compensate for mismatch loss.
Lower CAPEX:

Central inverters have higher CAPEX/kW than string inverter. This factor alone is
sufficient to convince EPC contractors and project developers to go for a central
inverter configuration. Moreover the balance of system BOS costs rise significantly
for string inverters due to the need for custom designed transformer stations and
switchgear which can cause longer lead times and delays.

Easy & Fast Installation:

Due to fewer required connections the installation of central inverters is quite fast.
As the central inverter container houses all the electrical components such as
switchgear and transformers, it decreases the installation time considerably.

Example Analysis

Detailed engineering design is required to assess optimal inverter configuration.

Inverter costs alone are not the determining factor in assessing plant Capex.
Increased cabling costs in the string configuration, transformer connections etc.,
also play a role. For our example we used Kaco Powador String inverter 39.0 TL3
and Sunny Central Central 2200. Below is the summary of the two configurations.

Total MPPT trackers for plant amount to 4701 in case of Kaco Powador 39.0, and a
mere 23 MPPT trackers in case of the Sunny Central 2200. This shows the level of
granularity achieved by string inverters.

CAPEX difference for 1-5 MW solar plants is 5-10 €/kWp, but as we move up to 20
MW the difference is considerably higher due to an increasing share of BOS costs.
The choice of a string or a central inverter is a customer specific requirement.
Solely on cost basis central inverters are the champions, whereas for facilitated
Operations & Maintenance and higher yield, clearly string inverters are the
winners. 

From an EPC’s perspective, central inverter results in lower EPC costs and is
therefore preferable. As a project developer, using a string inverter makes more
sense as it results in lower O&M costs and lower downtime.

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Published by

Khalid Hameed
Senior Project Engineer at Vattenfall
Published • 1y
8 articlesFollow
To string or not to String The answer is not just about optimising cost-yield benefit. It
is about asking the right question, for an EPC provider central inverters are the
winners, being a project developer with equity stake in the project string inverters are
the winners. Please feel free to comment hashtag#inverter hashtag#mppt
hashtag#solarpv hashtag#projectdevelopment hashtag#solarplant
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3 CommentsComments on Khalid Hameed’s article

Current selected sort order is Most relevantMost relevant

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Ijaz Khilji out of network3rd+Director Contracts at 'Independent
Consultant'

1y
Khalid Hameed sb , it’s nice reviving the old relationship wth u . Are u doing some Solar Project in
Pakistan,
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Sarmad Hanif out of network3rd+Power Systems Research Engineer

#gridmodernization #griddecarbonization

1y
Khalid Hameed: could we make a case of offsetting the cost of string inverters using the added
VALUE brought by them in the system? Do you know of such literature?
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Reply1 Reply1 Comment on Sarmad Hanif’s comment

Khalid Hameed out of network3rd+Senior Project Engineer at

Vattenfall

1y
Yes possible but as each project is different it is very hard to replicate the solutions. There are
some possibilities to offset the higher costs of string inverters such as:
1. Building tailored custom solutions and using economies of scale
2. Using mix architecture, making string inverters more centralised and vice versa
3. Decrease the downtime of central inverters by using predictive maintenance
It is very difficult to find literature on this as most literature doesn't contain the whole technical,
commercial aspects on the applied level. I hope this answers your question
…see more
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Khalid Hameed

Senior Project Engineer at Vattenfall

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