The first Fronius inverter – 30 years of reliable operation

04/12/2023 / Satteins, Austria

Twenty-four years ago, 30 of our first Fronius inverter, the Fronius Sunrise, were installed in Vorarlberg. Since 1999, they have formed the core of an extraordinary photovoltaic system with a facade construction in Satteins, near Feldkirch. They are the perfect example of the long service life of our inverters and reflect the values of quality and sustainability at Fronius.

Almost 30 years ago, the Fronius Sunrise was our first grid-connected inverter able to feed excess solar power into the grid.

Today, three decades later, quite a lot of these revolutionary devices are still in use, demonstrating their impressive service life and reliability.

Fronius Sunrise runs and runs and… runs — for 24 years

30 Fronius Sunrise can be found in Satteins, only seven kilometers from Feldkirch in Vorarlberg. For 24 years now, they have been supplying their plant operators—the two sister companies doma vkw Energietechnik and Ernst Schweizer GmbH—with reliable and almost maintenance-free self-generated solar power for the joint company site.

The PV system installer and Fronius System Partner doma vkw planned and installed the 49-kWp facade construction as a pioneer among the installer companies.

Managing director Martin Frick reports: “When we installed the system in 1999, more than 30 inverters were used. We deliberately opted for Fronius. At the time, the Sunrise was a very new product, but the quality has convinced us over the years. Two inverters have failed in 24 years, but that’s not a big deal as we had bought three reserve inverters. The third spare inverter is still in the warehouse, waiting for the chance to replace one of the other inverters.”

The 49-kWp PV system impressively demonstrates that since the establishment of Fronius Solar Energy in 1992, the Business Unit has stood for quality you can trust.

Why Fronius?

In addition to sustainability, the easy maintenance and long service life of Fronius inverters also set the company apart from the competition. Customers and installers benefit from the latter two features in particular. System owners can enjoy a smooth-running system for many years, and nerve-wracking failures and long journeys to repair parts will become a thing of the past for them and their installers.

Thanks to the diverse and cleverly designed digital Fronius tools such as Fronius Solar.web and Solar.SOS, owners can easily keep an eye on their PV systems as needed, and installers can even resolve any customer concerns remotely.

Like our Business Unit Solar Energy, the Vorarlberg-based solar expert doma vkw Energietechnik celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2022 and has been a Fronius Solutions Partner for many years. Managing director Martin Frick explains why: “This new type of facade system in combination with the Fronius Sunrise was already a very innovative solution at the time, and today we still always try to offer our customers the best, most advanced, and most innovative products. That’s why we rely very strongly on our partner Fronius.”

» “It goes without saying that sustainability is a high priority for us as a company. It’s very important that we not only think about today and tomorrow, but also about the future beyond that. That’s why we seek out sustainable partners that we can rely on for years and decades to come. And that’s where Fronius is by far number 1,” «

says managing director Martin Frick

Long service life instead of planned obsolescence

We are proud of our sustainable company philosophy, of which durability and repairability are only two aspects. Our aim is to manufacture high-quality products that bring us closer to our vision of 24 hours of sun in the long term. A world in which we generate electricity, cooling, heating, and e-mobility exclusively from renewable energy.

The PV systems at our Austrian sites already output 2.3 MWp. At Fronius we also strive to use recycled materials and use 90% green electricity for our production processes.

Find out more about our “Earth Mission” here.

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Solar Energy

The first Fronius inverter – 30 years of reliable operation

Fronius Sunrise runs and runs and… runs — for 24 years

Why Fronius?

Long service life instead of planned obsolescence