KOSTAL Pressebereich

19/07/2023

Interview on the second generation PLENTICORE plus

KOSTAL Solar Electric is part of the KOSTAL Group, an innovative German company with a long tradition, founded in 1912. The product portfolio includes inverters for home and commercial use, wallboxes, energy meters and monitoring software. With the PLENTICORE, KOSTAL released the first market-ready hybrid inverter for private households. Thanks to its great success, KOSTAL recently released the second generation of the PLENTICORE plus. We took this as an opportunity to talk to the responsible product manager, Andreas Schmalenberg.

Mr. Schmalenberg, can you tell us, when the PLENTICORE plus was initially released and what led to the release of the second generation?
 
In 2018, we were the first company to introduce the hybrid inverter to the market. 
Of course, we are always striving to improve our products. For this reason, feedback from our customers and installers is also important to us. Not least due to the strong increase in demand for products related to photovoltaic systems, it was our endeavour to meet the delivery requests of our customers as best as possible. The tight supply of parts has prompted us to look for alternative, more readily available components. In the course of this, we have made further adjustments such as interface expansion, installation of the latest hardware components and the introduction of Push In terminals for easier installation. In addition, the PLENTICORE plus has now been awarded the SG Ready label, which indicates that the PLENTICORE plus meets all the requirements for compatibility with heat pumps.

If I own a first generation product and want to connect a PLENTICORE plus of the 2nd generation with it, does this work without problems?

Yes, the original PLENTICORE plus and the new second generation model are compatible with other and can easily be linked. Also, the 2nd generation PLENTICORE plus can now be easily integrated into the network thanks to the daisy chaining technology. No additional physical connection to the router is necessary. 

Recently, you released your own wallbox, the ENECTOR. Are there any particular benefits in connecting it to the PLENTICORE plus instead of another hybrid inverter? 


The ENECTOR is the ultimate solar wall box, especially in combination with the KOSTAL inverter. It contains powerful functions with support of the KOSTAL Smart Energy Meter. Whether fast charging with maximum power in "Power Mode" or blocking the charging function from unwanted use in "Lock Mode" - the KOSTAL Smart Energy Meter and the KOSTAL Wallbox manage this in clever interaction.
In addition, further individual charging modes support intelligent control and simple customisation: With the "Solar Pure Mode", only self-produced solar power is used. In "Solar Plus Mode", the charging power is always dynamically adapted to the power availability.

How do I know before buying which batteries are compatible to the PLENTICORE plus?

The PLENTICORE is a very versatile inverter and compatible to batteries of several companies like BYD, BMZ, LG Energy Solution, Pylontech, Axitec or Wintersun.
A document about released batteries for the PLENTICORE can be downloaded here.

Are there any features that sets the PLENTICORE apart from other hybrid inverters?

The PLENTICORE plus is a very established and reliable product. Of course, all the advantages of the first generation are present in the second generation as well such as the AutoUpdate, which can be activated with one click. So neither the installer nor the customer has to worry about outstanding features with implement. All software updates are installed automatically. The user just has to actively activate the AutoUpdate function once.

Also, we follow the “You pay what you get” philosophy. This means you don´t pay for functions you might never use, but still have the possibility to unlock the battery mode at a later time if you need it.
What sets our products apart as well is the usage of displays. We continuously received positive feedback since our display allow a quick glance at basic and important information. This is still the case with the 2nd generation and the ENECTOR. And we will continue to implement displays for the near future. Our PLENTICORE plus also has an integrated shade management system that optimises yields even in times of low sunlight.

Mr. Schmalenberg, thank you for your time.

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