Fronius International

Fronius has commissioned 162 inverters for a solar park in Ukraine with a peak capacity of 5 MW. Fronius has supplied around half of the projects implemented so far in the new programme of the Chilean government for public buildings. The company now also has a branch in Ukraine and Tatabánya (Hungary) and offers consulting and service programmes on site. In Iran, Fronius and its local service partner support private and commercial plant operators with easy-to-install inverters. The subsidiary "Fronius do Brasil" has branches in the states of Minas Gerais, Paraná, Amazonas, Sao Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul.

Fronius installed inverters on the site of the planned Zwentendorf nuclear power plant (which never went into operation). PV panels with a total surface of 3,700 m² were installed and 43 Fronius IG Plus inverters. On the occasion of its 25th anniversary, Fronius Solar Energy expanded its portfolio with, among others, the consumption regulator Fronius Ohmpilot. This product enables the intelligent regulation of heating elements in boilers and buffer storage tanks and thus use excess PV-electricity to heat water.

The Fronius Energy Package Powerwall, developed in close collaboration with Tesla Energy, allows the storage of on-site generated PV electricity. When little or no electricity is generated by the PV-system, the owner can access and use the stored electricity in the Powerwall. The storage solution enables an increase of the self-consumption ratio. Fronius was awarded the "Energy Genius" innovation award for its "Energy Package" system.

Fronius and Victron Energy have synchronised parts of their product lines. The inverter chargers and charging controllers of the Dutch company permit PV-generated electricity to be temporarily stored in batteries. This enables a grid-independent, stable and constant supply of PV-electricity to small apartment buildings. This system was first installed in Kenya in summer.
Fronius is expanding its presence in the growing American market with a new branch office in the San Francisco Bay Area that is dedicated to product management, research & development and sales.

Diesel generators are often used in remote areas. The PV-Genset Solution developed by Fronius supports the combination of diesel generators and PV systems. Combining these systems brings technical, environmental and economic benefits. The new PV management system is able to control such combined-systems as a whole by integrating information from the inverters and load measurements (as well as measurements from the diesel generator if required).

The electric car manufacturer Tesla is entering a new market sector. In collaboration with Fronius, the Tesla Home Battery will be available as of the fourth quarter of 2015. For this collaboration, Fronius and Tesla are developing communication compatibility between the Fronius Symo Hybrid inverter and the Tesla Powerwall home battery. 

The "Fronius Energy Package", a storage solution for "24 hours of sun", consists of the inverter Fronius Symo Hybrid, the Fronius Solar Battery and the Fronius Smart Meters. Thanks to the Fronius Primo, the youngest member of the SnapINverter family, a single-phase unit now joins its three-phase counterpart, the Fronius Symo, on the market. Fronius also modernises older inverters, which can be replaced by Fronius devices.

With a maximum output power of 5 kVA, Fronius’ hybrid inverter enables unused electricity produced by a PV system to be stored in a battery. The device has a modular inverter and battery design as well as individually variable storage capacities. Market launch of this product is scheduled for 2014. Other recent innovations from Fronius are the compact central inverters for large systems Fronius Agilo TL 333.0 and 400.0, the string inverter Fronius Symo (in power categories ranging from 3 to 20 kW) and the new Fronius online training.

Fronius International and Loxone Electronics offer homeowners a user-friendly energy management system to increase the consumption of self-generated PV electricity. This combination of a Fronius inverter and a mini-server-based solution for home automation by Lexone is easy to implement. The system enables applications such as operating various appliances depending on the amount of available electricity and charging electric cars.

Fronius opened a new building, the Active Energy Tower, in Wels. Due to its active energy design, the use of photovoltaics and geothermal energy sources, the building is heated and cooled without generating any CO2 emissions. Fronius presented its latest developments at the Intersolar in Munich in June 2013. The highlight on their 512 m² stand was a prototype of the Fronius hybrid inverter which is able to temporarily store self-generated electricity with the help of batteries. It will be available in 2014.

Recently, Fronius International opened a Solar Electronics subsidiary in Sao Paulo. The market for PV in Brazil has enormous potential. The focus in Brazil is on small systems up to 5 kW for households and medium-sized systems up to 1 MW. The first projects are already connected to the grid. Fronius is supplying the string inverter for the largest photovoltaics project in Brazil. 50 Fronius IG Plus 120 inverters support the 1 MW system in Tanquinho.

Fronius developed a new inverter "Agilo". It fulfils the state of the art with more than 97 % efficiency. However, installation and maintenance are much easier than usually in its performance class because of the compact design. The inverter can be transported easily on rolls, via forklift or crane. It saves transportation and installation costs and Fronius also offers service packages promising faster maintenance.

Fronius established a 100 % subsidiary in Shanghai to develop a new market. The producer of inverters starts its subsidiary with 12 employees. Fronius already landed a contract over 1 MW in China. The Chinese market is the fastest growing PV market in the world and will also become one of the largest.

Fronius presented their comprehensive product ranges of grid-connected inverters, system monitoring and the Fronius service partner programme at the Solar Power International in Dallas, the largest conference and exhibition on solar energy in the USA. All products and services offered in the USA are especially adjusted to the needs of the US market.

With the opening of seven new international subsidiaries in 2010, the internationalisation of the inverter manufacturer Fronius is progressing rapidly. Fronius has opened new offices in Australia, Great Britain, Turkey, Canada, Mexico, Switzerland and Slovakia, and a further strengthening of the global presence is planned for 2011. With its 13 subsidiaries, numerous sales partners and representatives, Fronius is represented in more than 60 countries worldwide now.

• The fuel cell transforms hydrogen into electricity and is available in the capacity range of 2-4 kW.
• The energy cell is especially suitable for off-grid applications, such as meteorological stations, mountain shelters or for pioneers in the field of solar electronics.
• Presently, it is the only certified fuel cell system available on the market having the "TÜV-Süd" certificate.