Sputnik Engineering

Sputnik Engineering AG was founded in 1991 as a spin-off to the engineering school in Biel, Switzerland, and introduced the first three-phase central inverter with fully digital controls and regulation to the market.

The next technical innovation was the development of the first transformer-less inverter.

In 2001, the subsidiary Sputnik Engineering GmbH was founded in Germany as a reaction to the considerable growth in demand for photovoltaic inverters. In 2006 the subsidiary in Spain was founded, 2007 the Italian subsidiary followed, 2008 France and 2011 China. Locations in Belgium, United Kingdom, Greece and Bulgaria were added successively.

The company filed bankruptcy in 2014.

Sputnik Engineering produced string inverters and central inverters for all sizes of solar systems, from small systems for roofs to solar plants producing several megawatts. For small systems they offered string inverters from the S and P series of SolarMax with a nominal capacity from 2 to 5 kW and for medium-sized systems the MT series of SolarMax (8 to 15 kW).

The central inverters Sputnik Engineering offered included the S series of SolarMax (20 to 35 kW), the TS series of SolarMax ( 50 to 300 kW), the TS-SV series of SolarMax (330 kW) and the power station (330 kW to 1.32 MW). Sputnik Engineering also developed accessories and solutions for data communication for the monitoring, planning, and control of photovoltaic systems.