SMA AMericA SMAAmericaispreparingtoreleaseitsfirstevermicroinverterthisfall.TheSunnyBoy240-USissaidtobeidealforresidentialhybridSunnyBoystring/microinstal-lationsandsystemswithcomplexshading. Themicroinverterofferssimpleinstallationandreliableperformancewithhighefficiency,aswellasasimplifieddesignandflexibilitytoenhancelong-termreliability,accordingtoSMA.TheSunnyBoy240-USwillcomewiththeSunnyMultigate-US,anintegralcomponentofthemicroinvertersystem.TheMulti-gatewillserveasamulti-purposeconnectionpointthatprovidesclearcommunicationanduser-friendlyelectricalinterfacetothemainservicepanel.TheSunnyBoy240-USwillincludeSMA’strademarkreliability,performance,and customersupport.www.sma-america.com

Direct GriD DirectGrid’sARRA-compliantDGM-S460GEMINISeriesutilitygradegridtiemicro-invertersemploywhat

thecompanysaysisauniqueplanartransform-erdesignthatoffersthehighestpowerdensity,lowoperatingtempera-ture,andunsurpassedreliability.Withanindus-tryleading530Wpower,eachmicro-inverter

acceptsDCpowerfromapairofmanypopular60-cellphotovoltaicmodulesandconvertsittogridcompliantACpower(208VACor240VAC,60Hzor230VAC,50Hz).Combinedwiththeauto-gridsynchronization(whichdrivesapowerfactor>0.99),useoftheDGM-S460micro-inverterresultsinenergyharvestgainsoffiveto25percentversusconventionalcentralizedsystems,saysthecompany. EachunitincorporatesrobustPLCcommunicationsthatsendacollectionofpower,diagnostic,anduniqueIDdatatoaremotegatewaydevice.Thegatewayfre-quentlytransmitstheharvesteddatatoaremoteserverviaanEthernetconnection.Userscaneasilymonitoreachunit’sperformanceandhealth24/7throughtheWattTrackwebinterface.www.directgrid.com

ADvAnceD SolAr PhotonicS AdvancedSolarPhotonics’(ASP)grid-tiedPVinvert-ersofferanefficiencyandvoltageoperatingrangethatmaximizesenergyyieldandreturnoninvestment,accordingtothecompany.

Installationtimeandcostsarereducedthroughanintegratingcombinerbox,AC/DCdiscon-nects,andwireraceway.Thedesignsimplifiesserviceontheunitthroughatwo-piecemodu-larconfigurationthatallowsthewiringboxtoremainconnectedandmountedifthepowermoduleneedstobereplaced.Ratingsare3800W,4000W,5000W,6000W,and7000W.Featuresinclude:•97percentCECefficiency•Broadvoltageoperatingrange(105-500Vdc),performsinlowlight

andhightemperature•Transformerlessdesign•IntegratedPVsystemAC/DCdisconnectswitch•Fourbranchcircuit-ratednegativeandpositivefusedinputs•IntegratedNEC-compliantwireraceway•Fieldselectablevoltageoutput:208/240/277Vac•LCDdisplaywithnighttimemonitoringcapabilities•NEMA3Renclosure•ETLlisted(compliantwithUL1741standards)andCEClisted(inprocess) www.advancedsolarphotonics.com

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50 enerG I September/October 2012 I www.altenerG.com

Learn more at: eaton.com/solar

Harness the power

of the sunIntroducing the new Eaton Power Xpert™ Solar 1500 kW Inverter

Eaton_EnerG_EighthPage_v6:Layout 1 8/3/12 8:58 AM Page 1

SolectriA renewAbleS SolectriaRenewableshasintroducedthenewestadditiontotheirutility-scalesolarinverterproductlines.TheSGI500XT(600V)offerssomeofthehighestefficiencyandreliabilityintheindustry,thecom-panysays.TheSGI500XTisSolectriaRenewables’firsttransformerless,600Vinverter.Featuresofthisinverterinclude98percentefficiency,built-inredun-dancy,subcombineroptions,userinteractiveLCD,andvariousoptionsforutilities.www.solren.com

DAnfoSS TheDanfossGroupwillshowcaseitsnewcentralinverteratSolarPowerInternational(SPI)inSeptemberinOrlando,Florida. Thecompany’sSLXSeriesutilityscaleinvertersaredesignedforSunBeltregionswithaproductrangefrom1MWto1.5MW.TheSLXisliquidcooledandredefineshighperformance.Designedwiththetoughestcriteriaonallcriticalcomponentsandpairedwithanextreme-lyrobustandreliableinverterdesignedtolastfor25years,theSLXwasmadetodelivertruemaximumout-putpoweronacontinuousbasis,thecompanysays.Withthisdesignconcept,theSLXSeriesachievespeakefficienciesofupto98percentandworksatambienttemperaturesofupto+50°C.Allofthecomponentsareoptimallycooledfor

maximumperformance.Ahighlyefficientliquidcoolingsystemisem-ployedforthesemicon-ductorsandinductors,whichusethecompa-ny’spatentedShower-Powerswitchingtech-nology.Thisintegratedtechnologyisequippedwithspeed-controlledfansandpumpstoavoid

internalpollutionandlengthenmaintenanceintervals—evenindustyregions. UtilityscalePVpowerplantswillbenefitfromusinganSLXSeriescentralinverterthathasbeendesignedandbuiltwithreliability,installation,andmaintenanceinmind—allofwhichreducethetotalcostofowner-ship.Danfossinvertersaresaidtobeeasytouse,flex-ibletointegrate,andsimpletoinstall.TheSLXcentralinvertertakesthepainoutofinstallationbydeliveringapadmountedsolution,whichresultsinaquickerstart-uptime.www.solar-inverters.danfoss.com

Motech MotechPVMategrid-tiedPVinvertersofferhighef-ficiency,highreliability,lightweight,andlowerinstal-lationcost,saysthecompany.WithPVMateinverters,grid-tiedinstallationsbecomeasimpletask,andthattranslatesintolowerinstallationcost. ThePVMate3000U~7500Userieshas96percentCECefficiency,thehighestCECefficiencyinitsclassofinverterswithbuilt-intransformer. ThewideMPPtrackingvoltageranges(from200Vto550VforPVMate3000U~5300Useriesand230Vto500VforPVMate6500Uand7500Useries)makeMotechPVMateinvertersmoreflexibleinmoduleselectionandsizingofPVsystem.With131degreesF(PV-Mate4000U)and122degreesF(PVMate7500U)ofmaximumfullpoweroperatingambienttem-perature,Motechinvertersalsoperformbetterathightemperaturewithoutde-rating.TheintegratedDC/ACdisconnectswitcheliminatestheneedforexternalDC/ACdisconnects.Furthermore,RS232andRS485communicationfeaturesarebuiltintotheMotechinverter,andnoadded-oncardisrequired.www.motechsolar.com

outbAck Power TheGrid/HybridRadianseriesinverter/chargersincorporateOutBackPower’sFLEXgridtechnologyforfulloperationalflexibility.DualACInputsautomaticallyswitchbetweenanactivegridandgeneratorinputwithouttheneedforanexternal,costlytransferswitch.Anoffsetfunctionenablesuserstomanagetheiren-ergyconsumptionbyswitchingbetweenPV,grid,andbatteryenergysources.Inareaswherethegridisin-consistentorunreliable,theRadianseamlesslyswitchesbetweengrid-tiedandoff-gridoperation.

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Auniquedual-powermoduledesignensureshighefficiencyinbothlowandfullpoweroperation,aswellasredundancyinmission-criticalapplications.Modularsystemarchitectureandsimplifiedparalleldesignsupportsystemscalingofupto10inverters.The120/240V60Hzsplit-phaseRadianisan8,000wattpowersolutiondesignedforNorthAmericanwir-ingpractices.Thenew230V/50Hz7,000Winternationalmodelsup-portsthree-phasesystemsand

makestheRadianseriesatrueworld-classsolution,saysthecompany.www.outbackpower.com

froniuS Designedforeasyinstallationandservice,theFroniusfamilyofgrid-connectedinvertersincludestheIG,theIGPlus,andtheCLcentralinverter. TheIGrepresentsaflexiblegenerationoflightweightinverterswithavoltagerangeof150-500VthatincludeintegratedDC/ACdisconnects.Withfieldprogram-mableACoutputvoltage(appliesto3.0-11.4kW),abuilt-insix-circuitstringcombiner,andaremovablepowerstage,theIGPlusrepresentsanevolutionoftheFroniusIG. TheFroniusCLboastsamodularsystemdesignofupto15identicalpowermodulesusingFroniusMIXtechnology(alsoincorporatedintheIGandIGPlus).MaximumyieldandoutstandingreliabilitymaketheFroniusCLtheidealcentralinverterforPVsystemsuptothemegawattrange,thecompanysays.www.fronius.com/cps/rde/xchg/fronius_usa

eAton Power Eaton’sPowerXpertSolar1500kWinverterisde-signedforutility-scale,megawattapplicationsandengi-neeredtoreduceinstallationcosts,boostreliability,and

improveplantuptime,thecompanysays.

Withatruemegawattplatform,thePowerXpertSolar1500kWinverterisoutdoor-rated,98percentefficient,andfeaturesawideMaximumPowerPointTracking(MPPT)voltagerange.ThePowerXpert

Solar’sinnovativedesignenablesaskidlessinvertersta-tion,reducingequipmentandinstallationcosts.Afault-tolerantdesignhelpstominimizedowntimeandmaxi-mizeplantavailability,whiletruereactivepower(VAR)supportatratedpowermeansnopowerde-ratingupto±0.91powerfactorrange.www.Eaton.com

SchneiDer electric Asaglobalspecialistinenergymanagement,SchneiderElectricprovidesphotovoltaicsolutionsforanysizeinstallation,fromresidentialrooftopstoutility-scalefarms,andcustomersbenefitfromhavingasinglesupplierforalltheircomponents. SchneiderElectric’sConextTXGrid-tieSolarInverterprovidesgreatvalueinacompacthigh-frequencyde-sign,thecompanysays.ItmaybeinstalledinasinglePVarrayorinamultipleinverterconfigura-tion.TheConextXWSolarInverterisbattery-basedandidealforremotelocationswhereoff-gridpowerisrequiredorneededasbackup.Itfea-turestruesine-wavepowerandbest-in-classsurgecapacity. TheSchneiderElectricPVboxincludeselectricaldis-tribution,automation,security,monitoring,andcontrolinasinglepackage.SchneiderElectricalsoofferscom-pletesubstationdesignandconstructionservices.Thecompany’snationwideElectricalDistributionServicesgroupincludesmorethan150engineersand300fieldservicetechnicians,aswellasprojectmanagementteamstoassistwithcomplexprojects.www.schneider-electric.com

lti reenerGy EnergywithefficiencycharacterizesLTiREEnergy’s610/1220PVmasterIIInverterStation,thecompanysays.Designedwithaplug-and-playconceptforlarge-scale

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inverterSenerG Focus FeaturePVplants,thePVmasterIIstationfeaturesanintegratedmonitoringsystemandcomeswithafive-yearwarranty,extendableupto20years.Evenwithanul-tra-compactdesign,amaximumefficiencyofmorethan97percentcanbeguaranteed(includingMVtrans-formerlossesandallinternalconsumption). LTiisoneoftheonlyvendorsintheU.S.markettoprovideitscustomerswithacompact,fullyself-containedsystem,includingtheMVtransformerwithintegratedoilcontainment,accordingtothecompany.Theliquidcooledinvertersdonotexchangeanyoutsideairandaresaidtobeclean,dry,andcool.Advancedgridfunctionality,LVRT,powerreduction,andreactivepowercontrolaresupported.http://reenergy.lt-i.com

refuSol REFUsolInc.isatop-ratedmanufacturerofcommer-cialandutility-gradePVsolarinverters. TheREFUsol012K,016K,020K,and024KUL-certified,

commercial-scalestringinvertersarethree-phasetransformerless—andhighlyefficientat98.2per-cent.Thelight,compactdesigncomeswithanintegratedcom-binerboxtohelplowerBOScostsandaquickmountingbracketforeaseofinstallation.ThesefeatureapreciseMPPtracker,enablingtheinverterstoadjustthesettingsaccordinglytoachievethehigh-estefficiency,evenwithdifferenttemperaturesandvaryingsunexposure.REFUsolproducts,withareputationofhavingamong

thehighestefficiencyratingsintheindustry,alsoincludetheREFUlogmonitoringandREFUsolModbusSolutionforflexibilityinmonitoringsolutions.www.refusol.com

SolArbriDGe technoloGieS SolarBridgeTechnologieshaslaunchedtheirnext-generationACModulesolution,thePantheonIImicroin-verterandenhancedSolarBridgeManagementSystem.ThePantheonIIisahigherpower,higherefficiency,andsmallerfootprintmicroinverterthatissmart-gridcapableanddesignedtooptimizethepoweroutputoftoday’shigherpowerpanels,thecompanysays.ItbuildsonthesuccessoftheoriginalPantheonmicroinverter,improv-ingallperformancemetricsandaddingnewcapabili-tiesincluding208V/240Vautosensingandcompatibilitywith60-and72-cellmodulesupto280-watt—makingtheproductsuitableforcommercialandresidentialPVapplications.ItisCSAcertifiedtoUL1741.

SolarBridgemicroinvertersareinstalleddirectly onthebackofmodulestocreateACmodules,a completelyintegratedsolutionthatshipstothefield “roof-ready”withnoDCcablesorseparategroundwirestoinstall.ComplementingthePantheonIImicroinverteristheSolarBridgeManagementSystem,whichconsistsofthePowerManagerandPowerPortal,updatedwithaddi-tionalsystemmanagementfunctionstoenablemul-

tiple integration pointsforpartnerstoaccessandcontroltheirPVsystems(includingcloud-to-cloud,localhosting,APIaccess,andAndroid,aswellasiOSmobileapplications).

SolarBridgepartnerscanalsochoosetoprivatelabelthePowerManagerandPowerPortal,acomprehensivehardwareandsoftwaresolutionthatcaptures,pro-cesses,andpresentsmodule-levelperformancedata,alerts,andothercriticalPVsystemdatatositeowners,managers,andmodulemanufacturers.www.solarbridgetech.com

chint Power SySteMS LeveragingitssuccessinEuropeandAsia,ChintPowerSystems(CPS)islaunchingits20kWinverterintheU.S.—thesameproductfamilythatearnedaprestigious“A”ratinginPhotonLaboratorytesting. CPSisamongtheleadersinadvancingcommercialpowerarchitectures,fromcentralinvertersto3-phasestringinverters—anarchitecturethatenablesdevelop-erstooptimizePVsitedesignsaroundsmallerinverterbuildingblocks,increaseyieldthroughmulti-MPPT tracking,andachievelowerlifecycleservicecosts.Amongitsfeatures:•DualindependentMPPTs,96.5percentCECefficiency,increasingenergyyield•IntegratedAC/DCdisconnect,reducesinstalledcost

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54 enerG I September/October 2012 I www.altenerG.com

•IntegratedDCcircuitfusedinputs,eliminatescombinerboxes•Increaseddesignflexibilityandreliability•Shippingnow;ULcertified,CECListed CPSalsoprovides4kW,5kW,6kW,7kW,and100kWinvertersforNorthAmerica,withutilityscalesolutionscomingsoon.www.chintpower.com/na

Ge Markingwhatthecompanysaysisanewtechnol-ogymilestoneintheglobalefforttoincreaserenew-ableenergyproductionbydrivingdownoverallsystemcosts,GEhasdeployedthefirst1,500-VDC(volts,DCcurrent)opencircuit(OC)centralinverterforutilityscalesolarpowerplants.Theinverterwillhelpreduceoverallsystemcosts,whichisvitaltomakingsolarpoweramoreeconomicalalternativetofossilfueltechnologies.GEEnergy’sPowerConversionbusinessdeveloped,built,anddeliveredits1,500-VDCProSolarcentralin-vertertechnologytosolarpowerplantsystemintegratorBELECTRIC. BELECTRICinstalledGE’sadvancedcentralinverteratitsnewsolarpowerplantinsouthernGermany,utiliz-ingPADCON’s1500VDCSystemTechnology. The1,500-VDCOCcentralinverterforBELECTRICisdesignedasanoutdoorversionandissaidtoofferanumberofkeybenefits.Mostnotably,itallowsoperationathighDCvoltagesonpanellevelwithlowerDCcur-rentswhileincreasingtheratedpowerforinverters.ThiscanresultinsignificantlylowercostsforthetechnicalDCinfrastructureaswellastheoverallbalanceofsystemcosts.Sincethepoweroftheinvertersystemislimitedmainlybythecurrent,thepowercanbesubstantiallyincreasedbyincreasingtheoperatingvoltage,andthismeansadditionalcostsavings. DuetohigheroperatingDCvoltageandhigherout-putwiththesamesizeasconventionalProSolar1,000-VDCOCinverterunits,the1,500-VDCOCsolutionoffershigherpowerdensitywiththesamesmallfootprint,

whichmeansanoptimizedandflexiblesitelayout,thecompanysays.Theliquid-cooledandimprovedpowerelectronictopologyensureshighefficiency,especiallyinpartialloadoperations. GEEnergy’sinvertertechnologyhasalongtrackrecordofextremelyhighreliabilityresultingfromthecompany’sexperienceinthedevelopmentoffrequen-cyconvertersforthewindenergy,oil,andgas,aswellasmetals,sectorsandotherindustrialapplications.Byofferingitssolarinvertertechnologyaspartofitsbroadportfolioofproductsandsolutions,GEEnergyissupportingongoingenergypolicychangesinGermany,whichplanstoincreasetheshareofrenewableener-giesto35percentoftotalpowerdemandbytheyear2020.www.ge-energy.com

GrowAtt GrowattNorthAmericaprovidesalineofhigh-effi-ciencytransformerlesssolarPVinvertersforresidentialandsmallcommercialsystemsintheU.S.,Canada,andLatinAmerica.ThecompanyistheU.S.branchofaglobalmanufacturerwithsystemsrangingupto100kWanddistributionthroughouttheworld.GrowattwillsooncommenceU.S.manufacturing,inanewfactoryinMississippiopeninglaterthisyear.Growatt’sproductsfeaturedual-inputMPPTtrack-ersfordesignflexibilityintheunder-6kWcategory.Thecompany’sadvancedcircuitdesignandproprietaryal-

gorithmsachievea97percentefficiencyratingfromtheCEC,rankingGrowattinvertersintheindustry’stopfivepercent,saysthecompany.Growattisnotonlyexpand-ingitsproductioncapacity,itisalsoenteringthecommercialmarketwithanewlineoflarger,highly-efficientcommercial-grade3-phaseinverters.Growatt’s20kWinverterswillbeginshippinginSeptember,andadditionalinvertersizeswill

berolledouteachmonththroughtheendofthisyear.www.growattusa.com

kAco KACOnewenergyhasannouncedthelatestadditiontotheblueplanetlineoftransformerlesssolarinverters. TheXP10U-H4hasa97percentCECefficiencyvalueandatwochannelMPPoutput.Itissaidtobeidealforcommer-cialprojects. KACOisagloballeaderinsolarpowerelectronics,withover60yearsofindustrialexperience.Thefirsttransfor-merlessinverterswereinventedbyKACOin1999withimmediatebenefitsforsolarelectricsystemperformanceandeconomics,thecompanysays.www.kaco-newenergy.com

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eEmail: info@belectric-usa.com Phone: 1 (510) 896-3940www.belectric.com