Famous Places You Didn’t Know Used SMA Inverters

Many well-known sights and places have installed solar to welcome the 21st century. Many of them make use of SMA inverters. We want to introduce five of them to you – how many would you have guessed?

1. The White House, Washington D.C. (USA)

Since 2003, the White House in Washington DC has produced solar energy. A PV system as well as a solar-thermal station are installed on the roof of the main administration building. The grid-connected PV system has an output of 10 kilowatt peak (kWp) and provides some parts of the Presidential residence with solar energy.
With three Sunny Boy 2500U devices, SMA delivered the inverters for this system which was commissioned in 2003.
By the way: a few weeks ago, the Obama administration announced its plans to install even more solar on the White House.

2. Papal Audience Hall, Vatican City (Vatican)

The Vatican supports the worldwide promotion of solar power. The PV plant on the roof of the Papal Audience Hall, Paul VI, is as large as a football field. 2,394 modules with a total power output of 220 kilowatt peak (kWp) are installed there. The solar power produced roughly corresponds to the yearly demand of 100 households and reduces CO2 emissions by about 225 tons. The SMA Sunny Mini Central and Sunny Boy inverters were installed in small decentralized units. The system proves that photovoltaics and the protection of historical buildings go hand in hand.

3. United Nations Office in Geneva (Switzerland)

The United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) is the second largest United Nations centre after the Headquarters in New York and its architecture is just as impressive.
The building has a PV array of 700 kW which uses 37 SMA Sunny Tripower three-phase inverters and 3,700 modules with an annual production of 700,000 kWh. It was commissioned in 2013.

4. BMW World, Munich (Germany)

Located in the heart of the Bavarian capital of Munich, BMW Welt has been representing the BMW brand since 2007. Stretching over 73,000 square meters across seven floors, the facility offers the setting for interaction between the brand and customers, between people and technology, today and tomorrow. A place SMA fits right in.
A portion of the energy required is supplied by a centrally designed PV plant that is approximately 6,000 square meters and follows the topography of the curved roof structure. In total 3,660 PV modules are used which, thanks to dual SMA Sunny Central 350HE inverters, generate a nominal power of 824 kWp.

Olympic Stadium, Sydney

5. Olympic Stadium, Sydney (Australia)

As early as the year 2000, when the Olympic Summer Games took place in Sydney, Australia decided to install solar around the Olympic stadium to make the event the cleanest games in history. To do so, they installed panels on each of the 19 towers surrounding and the stadium. To generate electricity from the power of the sun, the total of 1,370 solar panels (131 kW system) use 32 Sunny Boy 3000 HF inverters and 3 Sunny Tripower 8000 TL-20 inverters as well as additional monitoring equipment.

Have you spotted SMA in famous buildings or unique places? We’re always looking for your images. Just send them to SocialMedia@SMA.de.