German inverter manufacturer SMA Solar has launched a suite of products at Intersolar Europe 2026, which includes grid-forming inverters and software to manage power plants.
The combined offering, dubbed the ‘Stability Enhanced DC Couple Hybrid Solution’, consists of a number of SMA products, including its Medium Voltage Power Station (MVPS), which itself includes the grid-forming Sunny Central storage UP-S battery inverter and the Sunny Central FLEX DC/DC Skid.
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SMA notes that both use its Sic MOSFET semiconductor technology, which can deliver conversion efficiencies of 99.5% and drives “stable grid operation” according to the company.
The integration of both solar and battery energy storage systems (BESS) components is significant as inverters take on an increasingly important role in managing the energy generated by renewable energy projects. Last year, Christian Carraro, general manager for Europe at SolarEdge, told PV Tech Power that inverters need to “interface with the grid at a much higher level than just feeding the grid,” and SMA’s Florian Bechtold, EVP of large-scale and project solutions, said today hybrid solutions are “becoming essential”.
“With our new Stability Enhanced DC Coupled Hybrid Solution, we are enabling our customers to deliver more resilient, efficient, future-proof and bankable projects,” said Bechtold. “As market requirements evolve, hybrid solutions are becoming essential to ensure long-term project viability and stable revenues.”
The new SMA solution also includes the Power Plant Manager software programme and “dedicated engineering services” to better optimise the work of energy projects using SMA products. The company said that it would offer quotes for the new hybrid solution at the start of July, and the suite would initially be made available in Australia, Germany and the UK.
The launch follows a challenging year for SMA, which posted losses in both its Q1 2026 and end-of-year 2025 financial results. Last year, the company announced plans to restart inverter manufacturing in the US for the first time in a decade, perhaps in response to the imposition of tariffs on goods imported to the US under the Trump administration, and SMA America’s Jay Arghestani said the move demonstrates the company’s “long-term commitment to the US market”.
The news also follows the publication of research from PV Tech Market Research, which shows that Europe has exceeded 100GW of inverter manufacturing.
