Growatt’s diversification

A LOOK AT GROWATT

Lisa Zhang,

Marketing Director at Growatt brings readers up to speed on Growatt’s developments.

SMART ENERGY: What can you tell us about the evolution of Growatt’s product range? LISA ZHANG: It’s been six years since Growatt launched the first generation of residential storage solutions in 2015. Over the years, we have been able to develop a comprehensive range of product offerings for solar energy storage applications including DC coupling and AC coupling. For batteries, low voltage or high voltage, we adopt a modular design to facilitate capacity expansion and installation.

SE: In August Growatt is launching the new generation C&I inverter MID 17-40KTL-X: what special improvements or advantages does this deliver? LZ: The MID 17-40KTL-X inverter series is developed according to our research and analysis of the Australian market demand. We’ve kept the OLED display feature for the inverter. Customers can access system data through our ShinePhone app on their mobile phone or touch the inverter screen to read the real-time data even where there’s no internet. In another instance, our MID inverter of 17 to 25kW capacity is designed with three MPPTs, allowing for three solar panel orientations. For 30 to 40kW, it has four MPPTs, eight input strings, meeting the demand to adapt to more complicated installation scenarios and improve PV system efficiency. We design the MPPTs this way to meet the demands and needs of Australian installers.

SE: What special processes underlie the development and design of new Growatt products?

LZ: In Australia, all our products are developed and adjusted according to the actual needs and demands of customers. It is part of what we call our ‘localisation strategy.’ We make changes and upgrades to each inverter series to adapt to local demand. Customer orientation is one of the core values at Growatt. We adopt such localisation strategies as we expand our business globally. That way, we increase our service efficiency and improve product competitiveness, and win over customers.

SE: Has Australia played an important role in the growth of Growatt?

LZ: Australia was the destination of our first exported load of inverters back in 2011. For Growatt, we’ve been growing along with Australia’s solar market over the past decade. We’re deeply engaged with the solar community here and we are able to understand our customers’ needs. Therefore, we continuously bring to Australia product innovations that are well received by the customers. And as our business grows, we add more local staff to our Australian service centre to deliver better technical support to customers. We’re very pleased to work with our partners to promote solar energy and contribute to Australia’s clean energy transition.

SE: And finally, what do you foresee for Australia’s solar and smart energy market? LZ: Solar energy storage is the future for solar energy in Australia, and we are optimistic about it. Australia’s solar market is very mature and very well developed. Australians welcome solar energy and many have solar panels on their roofs. The entire solar industry has demonstrated very competitive professionalism.

The electricity tariffs in Australia are relatively high and the trend for the market (aided by incentives) is to increase solar PV self-consumption. That means enormous potential for solar energy storage. With this in mind we launched our new generation inverter with its battery ready feature to enable customers to extend to energy storage with their PV system at a later date. We believe as battery prices continue to drop, the energy storage solution will become increasingly competitive and economical and more households will have solar and battery for their houses, significantly reducing dependence on the grid. www.ginverter.com

Lisa Zhang of Growatt is optimistic over the growth of solar energy storage in Australia as more households choose to store the electricity generated from their rooftop PV systems.