To drive the South African energy transition, SMA Solar Middle East and Africa joined forces with Audi Centre Centurion and ANH Technologies to install a global first: SMA’s Energy System Business comprised of two all-new Sunny Tripower X inverters and the very first SMA EV Charger Business to be powered-up. The solution – dubbed by Audi Centre Centurion as the “e-tron Solar Charging Initiative” enables charging e-trons at Audi Centre Centurion with clean power from the sun and significantly lowers the dealerships energy bill while sustaining stable power supply.
Local SMA partner ANH Technologies performed an in-depth energy audit by means of SMA’s proprietary Sunny Portal for monitoring using SMA Data Manager and Energy Meter to acquire data and analyse it. Subsequently a 51kWp PV system was installed on the roof and split into two parts, the SMA Energy System Business and a smaller SMA Energy System Home.
The integration of SMA Energy System Business generates, stores, and manages solar power for flexible use, saves energy costs and prioritises vehicle charging at Audi Centre Centurion. The system components are fully connected via SMA Sunny Tripower X, Sunny Tripower Storage, Storage 67KwH, Data Management M, EV Charger Business and the 51kWp PV modules.
The latter enables the dedicated staff at Audi Centre Centurion to explain and showcase the use of solar power to charge electric Audi’s at home and includes an intelligent 3-phase SMA EV Charger Home, a Sunny Tripower Smart Energy hybrid inverter and connected battery as well as the SMA Home Manager. The system’s energy flow is displayed in the SMA Energy App and charging with the maximum available solar power can be set-up intuitively. PV drives EV & EV drives PV.
Showcasing the successful sustainable solution and to simultaneously commemorate the 10 Year Anniversary of SMA Solar Technology South Africa an exclusive invite only event was held on August 22 with SMA partners from the African continent. Special thanks to Juergen Reinert, CEO of the SMA Group, Sascha Sauer, Head of Audi SA, and Preeban Munian, Commercial Director Bidvest Automotive, for attending the event and supporting the initiative.
About SMA
As a leading global specialist in photovoltaic and storage system technology, the SMA Group is setting the standards today for the decentralized and renewable energy supply of tomorrow. SMA’s portfolio contains a wide range of efficient PV and battery inverters, holistic system solutions for PV and battery-storage systems of all power classes, intelligent energy management systems and charging solutions for electric vehicles and power-to-gas applications. Digital energy services as well as extensive services up to and including operation and maintenance services for PV power plants round off SMA’s range. SMA inverters with a total output of around 110 gigawatts have been installed in more than 190 countries worldwide. SMA’s multi-award-winning technology is protected by around 1,700 patents and utility models. Since 2008, the Group’s parent company, SMA Solar Technology AG, has been listed on the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (S92) and is listed in the TecDAX index.