German engineering with U.S. production: SMA America returns through partnership with Create Energy

Nearly ten years after SMA America announced it was moving its Denver facility overseas, SMA is partnering with Create Energy to fuse German engineering with U.S. manufacturing.

September 18, 2025 Rachel Metea

Image: SMA America

SMA America is bringing back its inverter production to the U.S. through a partnership with Create Energy in Tennessee.

SMA used to produce its inverters in Denver up until about 10 years ago, but in 2016 the German company announced it was moving its U.S facility overseas due to pricing pressures. At the time SMA said the move would avoid additional capital expenditure in production and test equipment, citing the flexibility its production plants.

However, in 2023 SMA announced it planned to return to the U.S. this year. SMA said it was in discussions with several U.S. states and potential partners, as it was still looking to find “the most strategically advantageous production location and the right approach.”

Production will take place in Portland, Tenn. at Create Energy’s facility. SMA said manufacturing in Tennessee brings shorter lead times, localized support and a more resilient supply chain for U.S. developers and EPCs.

With SMA partnering with Create Energy, the two companies together will manufacture the Sunny Highpower PEAK3 and the new fully-integrated PowerSkid.

While SMA typically manufactures its inverters, Marc Nerius, SMA’s vice president of marketing and communications told pv magazine USA that in this partnership, SMA will serve as the designer while Create will serve as the manufacturer.

To note, the inverters produced at the Tennessee facility will be U.S.-based, however, the inverters will likely contain components manufactured in Germany, Jose Colom, an SMA applications engineer manager, told pv magazine USA.

As for what percent of the inverter’s components are made at the U.S. facility, Colom said “it depends.”

“Now they’re also coming up with a skid solution that we’re going to be selling,” he said, which will likely increase the product’s U.S.-made parts.

SMA initially said it planned to start its production at 3.5 GW per year back when it announced its plans to return to U.S. production this year. But with its new partnership in place, Nerius said the production size is now to be determined.

The companies said they are targeting to begin manufacturing in Q1 2026.

SMA and Create signed a memorandum of understanding to advance localized clean energy solutions for the U.S. market. The agreement outlines plans for joint sales and business development activities, which the companies said is the start of a strategic partnership.

“SMA and I have a long history,” said Dean Solon, founder and CEO of Create Energy. “They are not only industry leaders but also a strong team to work with. This collaboration will advance renewable energy and deliver American-built inverters and skids.”

Solon also formed a partnership with RECOM Technologies CEO Hamlet Tunyan, first announced last year, to develop a solar manufacturing facility in Tennessee, with planned production of up to 5 GW of modules and 5 GW of cells for the North American and European markets. Their venture is called “ReCreate,” a hybrid between their companies’ names. Solon is also the founder and former CEO of Shoals Technologies.

Nerius said SMA currently has two partners in the U.S. for domestic integration with its legacy medium food power station.

“One of the partners will manufacture our transformers for us, and one will do the integration of the skid here in the US, so more domestic content from SMS,” Nerius said.

When asked about whether SMA plans to begin developing inverters for the 2000 V transition on the horizon, Colom said SMA likes to take a conservative approach.

“We want to see how the market is moving before we come up with a real product that that can meet those standards,” he said. However, SMA is certainly looking in that direction, he said, which to his estimates may arrive by the end of the decade.

China’s JinkoSolar was the first solar module supplier to receive a UL certification for a 2000 V product. GE Vernova debuted its 2000 Vdc inverter last September, before moving its overseas operations back to the United States where it now manufactures the inverters at its new Pittsburgh facility.

However, it will take time for fully formed certification processes to emerge and even longer for manufacturers to align their products with these standards. Convincing developers to invest in 2000 V projects poses another challenge, as these new sites will be inherently riskier than standard 1500 V projects, with higher costs and a smaller selection of suppliers.

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