03/05/2023

Premières and highlights: KOSTAL at Intersolar 2023

More choice, more flexibility, higher availability

In keeping with the motto "There's simply more for you with KOSTAL", trade visitors can expect exciting trade fair premières, innovative product highlights and interesting partner solutions at stand B3.130 at this year's Intersolar, which runs from 14 to 16 June in Munich. Whether for private or commercial applications, KOSTAL always has the right solutions for generating, storing and managing solar energy.

There is a lot of demand for photovoltaics components and sector-coupled products. This year, KOSTAL is meeting growing demand by continuously expanding its production capacities, extending its product portfolio, improving the availability of existing products and a variety of partner applications.

Dealers, installers and customers also benefit from the simple installation and commissioning, flexible expansions in the scope of performance and functions as well as the improved control and communication of KOSTAL products.

All premières and highlights at a glance

- PLENTICORE plus G2 hybrid inverter with new digital features and easier commissioning

- KOSTAL Smart Energy Meter with AutoUpdate – now even more convenient to use

- Wallbox ENECTOR – easy control with the KOSTAL Solar App

- PREMIÈRE of the PIKO CI 100 – expanding the range for commercial inverters

- PREMIÈRE from further storage partners for more flexibility and higher availability

- PREMIÈRE of the PLENTICORE G3 with backup power and a higher hybrid power ofup to 20 kW

- KOSTAL Solar Terminal – simple and bundled access to central applications

Thomas Vogel, Head of Product Management, is looking forward to the upcoming Intersolar: "supply chains are regaining their stability. The two most recently introduced KOSTAL Energy Meters meet the strong demand for energy meters. In addition, we can satisfy the demand for intelligent charging solutions with our new KOSTAL ENECTOR wallbox. With the expansion of our production capacities, we remain a reliable partner for our dealers and customers."

KOSTAL at Intersolar 2023:

The highlight: second-generation PLENTICORE plus

The second generation of the PLENTICORE plus hybrid inverter draws on the experience gained with the original as well as proven performance. "One of our guiding principles during development was to make the installers' work as easy as possible. KOSTAL has always responded to the wishes of its customers," says Thomas Vogel. "With the second generation, we have once again invested significantly in our hybrid inverter – for more functions and simpler handling."

The control centre of the inverter, the integrated communication board, has also been completely revised. Now the PLENTICORE plus G2 boasts additional digital interfaces and WLAN as standard.

"The component market has better access to the components of the new communication board. Supply chains can thus be upheld more easily. This was an important criterion when we decided to switch to the new hybrid generation."

Two LAN connections also enable system expansion by daisy chain for larger solar power capacities. The four digital outputs provide greater connection options for consumers, so that, for example, heat pumps, air conditioning systems or charging stations can be supplied with power. In the heat pump sector, the second generation PLENTICORE plus now bears the SG Ready label for easy coupling.

The second generation of the PLENTICORE plus has also improved in terms of safety: you can now conveniently monitor the surge protection using a new monitoring input.

The time saved during installation has been cut further by one important detail: push-in terminals speed up commissioning and replace the screw terminals of the previous version.

The highlight: KOSTAL Smart Energy Meter

Thanks to the new AutoUpdate function, the KOSTAL Smart Energy Meter always stays up to date with the latest technology and runs without any further intervention by customers.

In addition, the revised dashboard of the web server for the KOSTAL Smart Energy Meter displays all components of the PV system and their connections to each other at a glance. Thanks to detailed breakdowns, the user can easily see when there is a particularly large amount of surplus energy available. This allows customers to decide for themselves how they want to use the available energy as efficiently as possible.

What’s more, if a PLENTICORE or PIKO MP plus with connected battery is set up with the Smart Energy Meter, the battery state of charge (SoC) is now also displayed in the Dashboard.

Première: new battery storage partners

KOSTAL remains true to itself and its system diversity. In addition to the proven storage solutions provided by BYD, BMZ and LG, KOSTAL has concluded further partnerships with battery manufacturers. The battery storage units from Pylontech, for example, are now compatible in two variants with a storage capacity of between 7 and 25 kWh. The new storage unit from Wintersun also comes in two variants: The Power variant with 5 to 14 kWh and the Energy variant with 12 to 26 kWh. Furthermore, the battery storage units from Axitec with a storage capacity between 7 and 25 kWh are now also compatible with the PLENTICORE inverters.

Thomas Vogel emphasises the importance of detailed testing at KOSTAL: "all storage partners are tested in extensive test scenarios. In addition to our partners' safety concept, we also check whether, for example, a sufficient range of services is available for customers. Only once all the tests have been completed do we enter into a joint partnership. Dealers and customers can always find current and approved battery partners published on our website."

The "Varta.wall" battery system from VARTA is eagerly awaited. With its high-voltage NCA round cell solution, the traditional battery brand is introducing an ultra-slim variant for a maximum of 20 kWh. Dyness also provides four battery solutions with its tower models that store 7 to 18 kWh of electricity. The hybrid and battery inverters from KOSTAL thus enable a wide range of storage solutions for maximum availability and flexibility. For all current battery partnerships that have been released, please refer to the document "Released Batteries" in our download area at www.kostal-solar-electric.com/plenticore_released_batteries.

The highlight: ENECTOR wallbox

Since the beginning of the year, owners of the KOSTAL Wallbox ENECTOR with activated comfort functions have been benefiting from an improved display of the four charging modes in the redesigned KOSTAL Solar App.

Furthermore, in future, it will be possible to manually set the ENECTOR wallbox to single-phase and three-phase operation. In future, the ENECTOR wallbox will also be able to make the selection automatically after the vehicle has been coupled.

For the Italian and Spanish markets, the ENECTOR AC 7.4 single-phase wallbox is celebrating its première at Intersolar in Munich. The exact launch date will be published at a later time.

KOSTAL Solar Terminal

In future, KOSTAL will bundle its applications and tools, including the online KOSTAL Solar shop or the Solar Plan, in a digital platform. The new KOSTAL Solar Terminal then offers simultaneous access and control at a single interface – with just one login.

The KOSTAL Solar Terminal is designed to make planning, initial setup and expansion of KOSTAL products much easier for installation companies and their staff by using a role and rights concept.

Première: PIKO CI 100

KOSTAL is meeting the ever-increasing demands for renewable energies in the commercial sector by expanding its PIKO CI series. The brand new model complements the existing range and offers even more power with 100 kW.

The PIKO CI 100 offers high system voltage, smart switch, overvoltage protection, daisy chain networking and is compatible with a wide range of parking controllers and data loggers. In addition, the project inverter has 8 MPP trackers, 16 inputs and handles up to 40 amps of DC input current. This ensures strong performance with maximum safety.

Optional arc detection is a new feature that extends the system protection and – for example – reports a possible fire hazard. The date of the market launch is yet to be announced.

Première: third-generation PLENTICORE

In the coming year, KOSTAL will introduce the third generation of its hybrid inverter. The PLENTICORE G3 inherits all the state-of-the-art features from its predecessor generations and offers a higher basic output of up to 20 kW.

The third-generation PLENTICORE is equipped with a backup power function, so that, in the event of temporary energy shortages by the energy supplier, the power demand can be covered by the PV system together with its storage reserves. The PLENTICORE G3 will be available in three performance categories which will be rolled out successively.

Summary: KOSTAL Solar Electric is investing heavily in its existing product portfolio, consistently expanding its successful product divisions and setting an important, early course for a rapidly growing market segment in private and commercial solar systems – also in combination with battery storage, heat pumps and charging solutions for e-mobility.

Visit KOSTAL from 14 to 16 June at Intersolar in Munich. Impressive trade fair premières, exciting live lectures and a few perfect matches await you.

About KOSTAL Solar Electric:

KOSTAL Solar Electric was founded in 2006 as an independent division of the German-based KOSTAL Group and offers a lean but extremely flexible portfolio of photovoltaic devices that meets all needs from home use to commercial applications. In addition to inverters, a wallbox and an energy meter with numerous functions round off the product range. Furthermore, KOSTAL offers free monitoring software with the Solar Portal and the Solar App. All KOSTAL products offer high compatibility, flexible expandability and the highest quality. Completely focused on growth, KOSTAL is quadrupling its production capacities for hybrid inverters by 2025 and supports the energy transition as well as its partners for further growth in the attractive market segment of renewable energies. KOSTAL - Innovation, made in Germany

About Intersolar
Eagerly awaited: in keeping with the motto "Connecting Solar Business", the world's leading trade fair for the solar industry welcomes its visitors from 14 to 16 June 2023. The umbrella brand "The smarter E Europe" combines four exhibitions with a focus on renewable and intelligent energy solutions: Intersolar Europe, ees Europe, Power2Drive Europe and EM-Power.