We caught up with Michael Koller, Solutions Director for Europe and the UK with Envision Energy, at this year’s Smarter E Europe trade show in Munich.
Koller was on hand to discuss how the company’s portfolio is evolving to address the core challenge facing renewable energy at scale: making intermittent generation reliably dispatchable.
The framework he outlines is built around four interlocking layers. Solar, which provides electricity generation, with storage stepping in to make that generation dispatchable and deliver flexibility. Grid-forming technology adds a third dimension, providing the kind of system stability that traditional grid-following inverters cannot, and, finally, binding it all together is AI, which Koller sees as the orchestration layer, optimising the overall system in real time against weather fluctuations, market conditions and grid constraints.
“This is how we define our future roadmap,” Koller explains. “Solar providing the electricity, storage providing the flexibility, grid-forming to provide the stability, and AI to orchestrate it all together in an optimal fashion.”
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The philosophy behind this approach is one of integration from the outset. Koller is clear that the value Envision brings doesn’t come from simply assembling best-of-breed components from different vendors, but from designing the pieces to work together as a unified system. That thinking informs the company’s recent launch of its own solar inverter, because, Koller stresses, tight integration between solar inverters, battery inverters and the plant controller unlock tangible benefits in system sizing, optimal dispatch and long-term asset performance.
It’s a proposition that appears to be gaining traction. Envision’s presence at Smarter E has grown notably across successive editions of the show, reflecting what Koller describes as rapid commercial momentum across its European and UK markets.
Watch the full interview above.
