Kolarc Makina, Turkey's first and only domestic solar inverter manufacturer, develops different power electronics solutions for solar panels and welding machines. Inverters, which convert the energy obtained from the sun into electrical energy and make it suitable for the grid, find buyers in more than 20 countries as well as the domestic market.
Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank visited Kolarc Makina's power electronics factory in Ankara Chamber of Industry 2nd OSB. Noting that Turkey has over $100 million in solar panel inverter imports, Minister Varank said, “Our goal is to completely finish this import. As solar panels increase, inverter investments will also increase. That's why it's a very important investment," he said.
During the visit, the company's general manager, İlker Olucak, gave information to Minister Varank about the activities they carried out. A presentation was made to Varank, who made inspections at the production facilities, about the company's solutions for digitalization.
Making evaluations after the examination, Minister Varank said:
This company started its business life by making inverter welding machines. We are a company that both sells to Turkey and exports under the Kolarc brand. Since power electronics is used in many different areas in the sector, they have started to take their steps to make inverters of solar panels. We are visiting a company that makes very serious production in the field of power electronics. Natural welding machines form the basis of the industry. The fact that these machines work in close cooperation with robots and industrial automation makes a significant contribution to the production processes.
INVEST IN RENEWABLE ENERGY
Starting with small numbers, namely 25-30 kW, they are now selling 100 kW solar panel inverters to the market. Ready to launch 167 kW inverters. There is a great effort to reduce carbon footprint all over the world. The way to do this is to invest more in renewable energy.
COMPLEMENTARY OF SOLAR PANELS
Turkey is in an ideal sun-drenched location in the world. Currently, solar power plants, solar panels on roofs, solar applications in agriculture are widely used all over Turkey. The complement of these solar panels are actually inverters. Without these devices, you have no chance to convert the energy from the solar panels you have obtained into electricity and send it to the system.
OUR GOAL TO CUT IMPORTS
Currently, we do not have any other domestic production company in Turkey. It is an industry with an import of over 100 million dollars. In this sense, I especially wanted to visit our friends. It is important for our country's economy that the inverter is produced in Turkey with domestic facilities and that it is currently being sold in the market. Of course, we don't want to settle for one brand either. Our goal is to cut imports, which are currently over $100 million. As the number of renewable energy projects and solar panels increases, inverter investments will increase in Turkey.
R&D CENTER SUPPORT
It is also very valuable for our country's industry that they have produced a domestic and national inverter for the first time in Turkey by almost reversing a welding machine technology, and that they have thought about this and invested in this field. They want to be R&D centers themselves. They have applied. In this sense, we will provide the necessary support to turn this place into an R&D center in the field of power electronics.
WE ARE THE FIRST COMPANY IN TURKEY
Kolarc General Manager İlker Olucak stated that they set out to realize firsts in the field of power electronics in Turkey and said, “We are currently the first company in its field in Turkey with more than 40 engineers and 200 employees. There are examples in the industry that produce the welding machine and the inverter at the same time. We know the targets and figures they have achieved in the world. We have accepted these international goals as our own. We are taking all the steps quickly to represent our country in the best possible way.” said.
LET'S RELY ON HUMAN RESOURCES
Minister Varank said, “The opposition has a discourse, they say, there is no production in Turkey, there is no factory. What do you think of this saying?" Upon the question of the General Manager, Olucak said, “We do not have a problem with our self-confidence. Everyone needs to trust our human resources. There is nothing we cannot achieve when we believe, when we put in our effort, when we work hard.” gave the answer.
AUTOMATION SOLUTIONS FROM TURKISH ENGINEERS
Minister Varank pointed out that the company is also working on the cooperation, communication and automation of robots and inverter welding machines and said, “This automation will of course contribute to the digitalization process. We have always tried to copy the models of certain countries to ourselves. Here is Industry 4.0. When you look at it, it is actually a brand of Germany. But when we say digitalization, today our companies can produce high-tech products in electronics themselves. But with their digitization and automation, our engineers can develop their own solutions here. We need to see where the Turkish industry is going and accordingly, if our SMEs are going to be digitalized, if we are going to make the industry more efficient by digitalizing, we need to apply such domestic solutions to the industry. In this sense, these works of our company are also very valuable.” said.
BOTH CHEAP AND QUALITY
Minister Varank then called the authorities of the businesses using Kolarc products and asked about the product. The owner of one of the businesses told Minister Varank, “I really struggled for these machines. It was always coming from outside. We bought both cheap and best quality. We are very pleased. In the past, our money was going abroad, now it is national and local, how beautiful it is.” said.
30 PERCENT OF PRODUCTION IS FOR EXPORT
Founded by Koloğlu Holding, Kolarc Makine and Solarkol Energy produce welding machines and solar inverter systems at international standards. Located in Ankara Chamber of Industry 2nd Organized Industrial Zone, Kolarc Makine carries out R&D, design and production with 100 percent domestic capital and human resources. The company, which has 200 employees, mostly women, exports 30 percent of its production. The company aims to triple the 6 million dollar export figure it achieved last year this year.
WHAT IS INVERTER?
Inverters that convert direct current to alternating current are mainly used in solar energy systems. Solar energy is given to the system by converting it into electricity through inverters and making it suitable for the grid.
Be the first to comment