Technical Analysis
Photovoltaics stops following the grid and starts supporting it: Huawei's grid-forming revolution
📅 May 2026
⏱ Reading: 5 minutes
On 29 April 2026 in Frankfurt, Huawei launched FusionSolar 9.0 in Europe: the first string grid-forming inverter in the world arrives on the European market. The role of photovoltaics in the electricity system changes, and the way installers and EPCs sell a system changes.
PVclick Strategy Team
Operational and commercial analysis for the Italian PV sector
What you will find in this article
- The difference between grid-following and grid-forming, and why it matters now
- The technical numbers of FusionSolar 9.0 and the SUN2000-150K-MG0
- When and where grid-forming becomes a commercial lever to access ancillary markets
- The three actions to position your offer on the C&I and utility-scale 2026-2028
The paradigm shift: from chasing to supporting
For over twenty years photovoltaics have worked in grid-following mode: the inverter synchronizes with the existing grid, reads its frequency and voltage and adapts its input. It works as long as there is enough “true” inertia, that of large thermoelectric synchronous generators. With the progressive decommissioning of these power plants, the system inertia has been reduced and with it the stability of the grid, especially in weak areas or areas with high penetration of renewables.
The grid-forming inverter overturns the logic. As he explains Terna in its Lightbox study, these machines do not simply follow the network parameters: they actively impose them, behaving like virtual synchronous generators. Photovoltaic stops being a passive host and becomes an actor in frequency and voltage control. For the electricity system this is infrastructural news; for those who install and sell systems it is a commercial lever.
What Huawei announced in Frankfurt on April 29, 2026
At the European summit “Pioneering Ultimate Innovation, Redefining Life Cycle Optimal LCOE”, Huawei Digital Power presented the platform FusionSolar 9.0 with three key elements for the European market: the world’s first grid-forming string inverter, the Smart String 506KTL model, a 1000V AC system that reduces the balance-of-system, and a new family of Smart Transformer Stations of 3000, 7000 and 11000 kVA.QualEnergia.it e 20 seconds for frequency stability.pv magazine International previewed the platform in December 2025: the global version is rolling out from Q3 2024 on the Chinese market, with over 10 GW of projects under construction globally.
📊 Because it matters in Italy
Southern Italy and the islands have networks with low inertia and high PV penetration, where the TSOs already ask for frequency support capacity in the new connecting agreements. A utility-scale plant with “made in” grid-forming qualifies directly for the ancillary markets (MSD, capacity payment) and, coupled with BESS, for the MACSE. Without grid-forming, the same projects risk more stringent curtailment constraints.
The hardware available today: SUN2000-150K-MG0 for C&I
For the Italian market it is the reference machine for medium-large commercial and industrial plants, in particular for C&I construction sites where the request of the network distributor and the customer’s exposure to the PUN of solar hours make self-consumption and network services an important economic component of the business case. Connection standards covered include EN 50549-1/2, VDE-AR-N4105and European national approvals.
The three families of applications where grid-forming shifts the margin
1. Utility-scale in weak network areas
For those developing utility-scale PV projects in the South or on the islands, grid-forming capacity progressively becomes a qualification requirement and revenue lever. The ancillary services recognized by Terna in the MSD markets are remunerated independently of the sale of energy, and the MACSE guarantees 15 years of fixed tariff for the enabled storage. A PV+BESS system with grid-forming can intercept both flows.
2. Commercial and industrial in areas with connection constraints
Medium-large C&I construction sites that today encounter distributor input limits or long substation adaptation times can in some cases find a passe-partout in grid-forming: an inverter that actively produces reactive support and independently manages voltage transients simplifies the practice and shortens the time between order and connection. The SUN2000-150K-MG0 is today the natural choice for the 100-1500 kWp range.
3. Microgrids and industrial sites in continuity
The black start functionality, the ability of the inverter to autonomously restart a section of the network without an external source, opens the market for industrial microgrids and critical sites (data centers, hospitals, manufacturing plants with continuous cycles). Here photovoltaic stops being a bill reducer and becomes part of the customer’s energy continuity infrastructure, with a value proposition that is decidedly different from that of self-consumption alone.
What changes in the commercial discourse towards the C&I customer
Until 2024, the typical conversation with a medium-to-large C&I customer would start with how much you pay your bill today and how much you could save. With grid-forming, the dialogue is enriched with three dimensions: access to ancillary markets as a second revenue stream, operational resilience in the event of network disturbances, qualification of the project in areas with constraints. For installers and EPCs it is the transition from “selling a system” to “selling an energy asset with three sources of revenue”.
The SolareB2B analysis of January 2026 has already put the direction down in black and white: grid-forming inverters are allies for the grid and for those who know how to explain the added value to the customer.Rinnovabili.it underlined how this technology has become the central element of the stability of the electricity system as RES grows.
How PVclick supports grid-forming transition
The direct import with an Italian team is the way in which PVclick supports installers, EPCs and developers in the choice and supply of Huawei inverters from SUN2000 range, combined storage systems and complete kits for C&I systems. For those who are now designing solutions that will have to go on site in the next 24 months, talking to the factory means two things, knowing the real availability of the lots and blocking the price before the supply chain tensions that the European market is already showing. For those who do not work in utility-scale, the natural choice remains the residential and C&I range, with the SUN2000-MB0 for systems up to 25 kW and the three-phase hybrid as a reference for the average commercial.
Coupling with the BESS storage systems is almost always the necessary step to bring home the economic value of grid-forming, because many ancillary services require the ability to absorb and release power, not just produce it.
The three actions to close immediately
- Update the technical catalog including the SUN2000-150K-MG0 as a reference option for medium-large C&I, and set the utility-scale roadmap on the new Smart String 506KTL announced for the European market
- Rewrite the commercial pitch towards C&I customers by integrating revenues from network services and operational resilience, in addition to the usual savings on the bill
- Pre-allocate the supply chainof inverters, storage and connection panels for the 2026-2028 construction sites, before the European race for grid-forming increases delivery times
Are you designing a C&I or utility-scale with grid-forming capabilities?
Comparative grid-following vs grid-forming infographic: reaction times (100+ ms vs 10 ms), virtual inertia (0-20 s), black start capability
