Ecological and economic benefits of repairing an inverter
a modern approach to the culture of repair
You don’t buy a new car when the battery dies or the tire goes flat – so why would you spend money on a whole new inverter when the power fails?
Let us start from the beginning,
Every solar PV plant consists mainly of two elements:
The first is the solar PV panels
and the second is the power inverters
The inverters convert direct current into alternating current so that the latter can feed the distribution grid.
The largest inverter manufacturers in the world are German-owned. Over the last five years there has also been strong growth in this sector in China. These companies do not promote repairs, as their logic is “Buy a new one”.
At Aineas we want to change this logic.
New inverters have the same efficiency as the old ones, since the technology has not changed.
Buying a new inverter when the existing one can be repaired at a lower cost and with the same efficiency is a waste, both ecological and economic.
Repair concerns both the investor and the local economy.
Over the last year, Aineas has carried out repairs on inverters corresponding to approximately 6 megawatts.
The main benefits for the local economy and for the environment are two:
Minimising the ecological footprint
Inverters are reused that would otherwise end up in a landfill or, at best, in a recycling plant.
Yet even in the case of recycling, enormous amounts of energy are required to first cut the steel into small pieces and then melt it. It is estimated that over the last year 20 tonnes of iron have been reused by repairing these inverters. Of course, besides the iron, the electronic boards are reused as well, since most repairs are carried out at component level.
In addition, a new inverter must necessarily travel enormous distances to reach Greece, increasing its environmental footprint. In the case of repair, however, the inverter is transported locally, which means that its environmental footprint changes only marginally.
Supporting the local economy
As is well known, there are no domestic manufacturers of inverters for solar PV plants. So if an inverter is not repaired, a sum of money will inevitably be exported to a European country, or to a country outside the European Union, in order to acquire the inverter.
When a repair is carried out in Greece, however, that sum of money stays in the country, helping the development of local communities and reducing unemployment. A cutting-edge technology sector is also created, where the traditionally strong interest of Greeks in repairs can be combined with modern technology and problem solving in innovative applications.
Sustainable development can be achieved, and for that to happen we all have to contribute.