Sungrow, a leading Chinese provider of PV inverters and energy storage systems (ESS), unveiled its next-generation 1+X 2.0 Modular Inverter for utility-scale applications at the recently held Intersolar Europe 2025. TaiyangNews gained brief insights into this new product during its visit to the company’s booth.
Flexibility
The 1+X 2.0 Modular Inverter consists of individual 0.8 MW power modules, which can be connected in parallel to up to 12 units, to scale up to 9.6 MW, offering greater modularity than its predecessor. Unlike conventional centralized inverters, each module adopts a split architecture, separating critical components, such as Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs) and capacitors, into an upper inverter section. This design enables rapid on-site replacement, so that a single module can be swapped in just 1 hour, significantly reducing downtime and generation loss.
Resilience
Engineered to operate without derating in extreme environments, including temperatures up to 52°C, the 1+X 2.0 integrates high-power-density semiconductors, a high-efficiency heat exchanger, and a dual-cycle thermal management system. To endure harsh conditions such as dust and heat, the system is housed in an IP66-rated enclosure and incorporates advanced heat dissipation technologies along with a self-cleaning air duct system, ensuring sustained performance over time.
On the safety side, Sungrow says it uses an AI-driven DC side management system, designed to mitigate risks such as short circuits, arc faults, and terminal overheating – the key causes of PV plant fires. In the event of an arc fault, the inverter’s dual arc protection mechanism triggers a rapid disconnection via the corresponding combiner box in under 40 ms. To prevent fault propagation, other combiner boxes in the same inverter block are also shut down simultaneously through inverter cluster control. Additionally, a high-precision temperature monitoring system enables continuous scanning of terminal connections, providing early warnings and allowing for proactive intervention in case of overheating.
Functionality
Designed with grid flexibility in mind, the 1+X 2.0 supports both DC and AC coupled PV + storage configurations. However, the company says that its DC-coupled setup offers greater efficiency and cost-effectiveness compared to the AC variant. Also, the inverter incorporates advanced grid-forming technology, enabling it to provide an inertia-like response in under 5 ms during grid fluctuations, helping stabilize system frequency. The company adds that the inverter can also tolerate transient overvoltages of up to 1.8 times the nominal voltage, ensuring operational continuity under volatile conditions. In addition, its grid-forming capabilities eliminate the need for diesel generator (DG) sets during construction. It can form microgrids within or across multiple inverter blocks.
