SUNVIBE – Smart Upgraded iNverter architectures for Versatile and flexible Integration of PV-Based systEms

We promote more efficient integration of renewable energy into the grid

Project duration

1.5.2026 – 31.1.2030

Source of Funding

HORIZON-CL5-2025-02, Innovation Action, granting authority CINEA

Total Funding

€5,998,526.50

SUNVIBE develops next-generation solar photovoltaic (PV) inverters that enable the more efficient integration of renewable energy into the electricity grid. The project improves grid stability, flexibility, and cybersecurity while reducing energy losses and the need for costly grid reinforcements.

Advanced silicon carbide inverter technology for new grid needs

SUNVIBE will deliver the next generation of smart PV inverters to ensure the secure, reliable, and cost-effective integration of renewable energy into Europe’s grids.

The rapid replacement of synchronous generators with inverter-based resources has reduced system inertia and exposed grids to new stability risks, as demonstrated by the 2025 Iberian blackout. At the same time, the massive deployment of solar PV, from utility-scale solar power plants to self-consumption systems, raises concerns around interoperability, power quality, and resilience. To address these challenges, SUNVIBE will pioneer advanced silicon carbide (SiC) based inverter topologies that enable operation at >=2 kV DC and direct medium-voltage (MV) grid connection, alongside a unique 100 kW bidirectional four-wire inverter combining grid-forming and grid-following capabilities for enhanced power quality and harmonic mitigation.

Smart control and secure data management

Integrated condition and health monitoring will support predictive maintenance and lifetime extension of solar power plants, while a harmonised energy data space and a real-time cybersecurity platform will ensure interoperability and secure operation across distributed energy resources (DER). Innovative inverter control algorithms will provide synthetic inertia, dynamic current injection, and coordinated solar and battery storage flexibility services, reducing curtailments and deferring costly grid reinforcements.

Solutions demonstrated in three pilots across Europe

The solutions will be validated up to Technology Readiness Level 7 (TRL7) across three complementary pilot sites in Finland, France, and Spain, demonstrating replicability under diverse climatic and grid conditions. SUNVIBE unites 15 partners from 8 EU countries, including research and technology organisations, universities, inverter manufacturers, SMEs, distribution system operators (DSOs), and dissemination experts to ensure strong implementation, industrial uptake, and alignment with EUPI-PV priorities.

Towards a more flexible energy system

By increasing energy yield, availability, and flexibility while reducing losses and curtailment, SUNVIBE will reinforce Europe’s technological leadership in power electronics and accelerate the transition to a resilient, renewable-based energy system.

Turku UAS in SUNVIBE: condition monitoring of solar panels

Turku UAS develops a method for monitoring the condition of solar PV modules in which the inverter itself enables electroluminescence (EL) and photoluminescence (PL) imaging of the modules. Microcracks and other latent defects can then be detected without an external power supply and without disconnecting the array from the grid, which makes drone-based inspection of large solar parks far more practical. Turku UAS leads the development and laboratory testing of this solution and supports its implementation and monitoring in a Finnish pilot. The work is carried out in Turku UAS’s New Energy Research Center, which studies solar energy performance in Nordic conditions.