Milestones

At the turn of the year 1998/1999, Ralf Hofmann and a dozen employees left the old KACO group to start a separate company that was solely dedicated to photovoltaics: KACO GERÄTETECHNIK GmbH. With them, they brought decades of experience from KACO, which was already the world’s largest supplier of electromechanical choppers in the 50s, the predecessors of today’s inverters.

With one of its first series productions, the transformerless inverters, the young company launched itself into the solar age with a bang. It helped a technology to succeed that is now standard thanks to its high levels of efficiency. Today, the company is one of the largest manufacturers
of photovoltaic inverters in the world and is called KACO new energy.

Latest developments are the learning energy storage and management system Powador-gridsave as well as an integrated solution for the electrification of grid-remote regions, Powador-microGrid.

• 2012 KACO new energy introduces the Powador-gridsave to the market, a unique energy storage and management system to become a systems supplier instead of simply a supplier of components.

• 2011 The new plants in Neckarsulm and London, Ontario (Canada) begin production. Production also begins at San Jose, California (USA).

• 2010 The expansion of production capacity to 10 gigawatts begins. Subsidiaries in France and Italy are founded.

• 2009 KACO GERÄTETECHNIK GmbH is renamed KACO new energy GmbH. The new
  headquarters opens for business. Founding of the sales office in China.

• 2008 The new logistics centre is opened. Construction begins on the new headquarters.
  
  
• 2007 The new research and development team for central inverters is created in South Korea.
  
  
• 2006 Plant 3, a production centre, is opened in Neckarsulm. The subsidiary in Greece is founded.
  
  
• 2005 The development and logistics centre in Erlenbach opens, as does the research and development centre in Kassel.

• 2003 KACO GERÄTETECHNIK GmbH moves to its new facilities in Neckarsulm.
  
  
• 1998/99 The expanding KACO GERÄTETECHNIK profit centre reforms as an independent company under the name of KACO GERÄTETECHNIK GmbH.