Germany’s SMA Solar claims to have become the first inverter supplier to be accredited under Chile's new net metering programme.

Introduced last month, the programme offers payments to owners of residential and commercial solar systems under 100kW for surplus power injected into the grid.

SMA said its Sunny Boy TL and Sunny Tripower TL inverters had become the first to meet the scheme's system requirements uand receive authorisation from Chile’s Superintendencia de Electricidad y Combustibles regulatory body.

The company said approval would enable it to offer a range of inverter options from 1 to 25kW per inverter.

"We are happy that our inverters are the first inverters in the market to receive the authorisation," said Daniel Rosende, SMA general manager South America. "SMA has a high experience in countries all over the world and our products offer the most advanced technology and highest quality in the market.”

SMA has been operating in Chile since 2012 and is offering systems for projects of all scales, from residential up to utility.

The country has begun to see its huge pipeline of utility-scale PV projects being built out, with projects by US firms SunEdison and First Solar among the first wave of notable completions.