SMA opens new PV inverter service center in Germany

•  
  Norbert Röttgen, center, Federal Minister for the Environment, joined SMA executives Pierre-Pascal Urbon, left, and Gunther Cramer at the anniversary and new service center celebration.

As SMA celebrated its 30th anniversary, the company was also celebrating the opening of its new PV inverter service center at the Sandershäuser Berg industrial complex in Germany. The 258,333 square foot building will begin testing, analyzing and repairing replacement devices from around the world in the spring of 2012.

"The company founders' vision of a 100 % decentralized, renewable energy supply is what drives SMA forward to this day. Today, the global energy turnaround has become irreversible and is going to benefit the company long term", states Pierre-Pascal Urbon, chief executive officer and chief financial officer of SMA. 

Using techniques from its 85 worldwide service sites, SMA noted that it will optimize customer service work processes so that better service and shorter response times can be passed on to its clients. The company stated that in Germany SMA devices are replaced within 24 hours, with other countries serviced within 48 hours.

“The new service center at Sandershäuser Berg will provide a perfect infrastructure that will enable us to achieve further improvements with regard to speed, quality and costs", emphasized Souleymane Niang, executive vice president of service.

The new service center was further designed to be environmentally friendly. In addition to a fully insulated shell with a wooden-frame, construction, combined with using heat recovery and waste heat from production, SMA is installing a 1MW PV plant on the building’s roof.