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Smartsolar, a developer of rooftop PV systems in Honduras, has completed the largest rooftop power plant in Latin America, with energy produced by SMA Sunny Tripower TL-US three-phase, transformerless string inverters. Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández attended the recent commissioning ceremony for the 3 MW system, located at the PepsiCo bottling plant in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
The decentralized system comprises 98 SMA Sunny Tripower 24000TL-US inverters and 11,702 Jinko Solar modules. It is expected to generate 4,252,423 kWh of power annually, enough to offset 16 percent of the manufacturing facility’s energy consumption.
Project owner Embotelladora de Sula, S.A. (EMSULA) installed solar at the PepsiCo bottling plant in order to reduce power costs; better manage energy price fluctuations; be a more competitive, socially responsible company; and positively impact the environment by reducing its carbon footprint.
“We are honored to help EMSULA and PepsiCo reach their energy and sustainability goals,” said Henry Dziuba, president and general manager of SMA America. “The Sunny Tripower TL-US is the complete commercial solution, optimizing design, production and reliability while reducing the levelized cost of energy and improving financial returns.”
The Sunny Tripower TL-US features unmatched design flexibility, high efficiency and enhanced safety, making it the ideal solution for decentralized commercial PV plants. Also available in 12, 15 and 20 kilowatt models, the Sunny Tripower TL-US boasts peak efficiency of more than 98 percent while its OptiTrac™ Global Peak maximum power point (MPP) tracking algorithm further maximizes energy production by minimizing the effects of shade. It is suitable for both 600 VDC and 1,000 VDC applications and offers two independent MPP trackers, a combined or detached connection unit, and myriad mounting configurations (vertical to 15 degrees from horizontal), further increasing design flexibility.
“SMA was the right partner for the project because it is a leading global photovoltaic company that has demonstrated reliability based on its high-quality products and services,” said Roberto Larach, general director of EMSULA. “SMA also provides unparalleled technical expertise and support before, during and after project installation.”
The Sunny Tripower TL-US delivers a future-proof solution with full grid management features including power factor correction, low-voltage ride through, curtailment and frequency response. It also offers innovative monitoring and communications features allowing start/stop/reset remote capability, as well as SMA Service, technical support and plant-wide O&M availability. Safety and reliability have been enhanced due to its all-pole ground fault protection, integrated AFCI, reverse polarity indicator and DC monitoring per MPPT, granular down to four strings.
The Sunny Tripower TL-US is 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.