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Achieving these goals while also continuing to move forward with economic and social development will require a steadfast commitment to building and commissioning power stations that generate electricity from sources such as sunlight.

In Spain, for example, more solar photovoltaic capacity will be added in 2022 than has ever been installed in the space of a year. Red Eléctrica de España (REE) estimates the national photovoltaic solar capacity, which already stands at more than 18,700 megawatts, will close 2022 with an output of around 28,000 gigawatt hours. These figures represent a 33% increase in photovoltaic production compared to 2021 and position photovoltaic panels as the fourth most productive technology in the generation mix for the first time (accounting for 10% of the total).

The growing role of renewable energies in the drive to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and slow global warming is, therefore, no longer up for discussion. For the most part, governments, companies and consumers alike are aware of the need to consume less energy and generate it in a more sustainable way. Allied with this awareness are strong economic arguments in favour of renewables, which have helped to consolidate self-supply as a growing trend.

And because of this, the rooftops of our homes are increasingly being covered by solar panels that allow us to produce our own electricity, shrink our ever-rising energy bills, and reduce our dependence on the conventional energy grid. All this is achieved by harnessing energy from the sun, which is the cleanest and most environmentally friendly form of energy.

From panel to mains

The process of transforming solar energy into electricity that consumers can use involves a range of different equipment. Undoubtedly, one of the most important devices is the solar inverter, which is responsible for transforming the direct current (DC) provided by the solar panel into the alternating current (AC) that flows through the mains and on to supply businesses and homes.

The solar inverter plays a key role because the more energy-efficient it is, the more output is extracted from the system and the more it can be utilised. Solar inverters are usually more than 90% efficient, although this is highly dependent on the manufacturer and the model, and 100% efficiency can never be achieved because the device has to consume small amount of energy to operate.

The efficiency of the inverter can be increased using an electronic technique called MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracker). The objective of the MPPT system is to ensure that the inverter is always working at the optimum point of its V-I (voltage-intensity) curve, which in turn depends on a number of factors that influence the operation of the photovoltaic panel, such as its orientation, latitude, level of irradiation, temperature and the presence of shade, among others. In other words, MPPT control allows maximum power to be extracted from each solar cell, thus optimising efficiency.

The pursuit of maximum performance

Although 100% efficiency is an impossible goal, leading manufacturers have come as they can with their new generation of solar inverters. Such is the case of Salicru with its series of grid-connected solar inverters. A product tailored to the needs of homes and small businesses, ideal for self-supply, and a real technological milestone for Salicru in its firm commitment to renewable energies.