Albert Einstein said you cannot solve a problem with the same level of thinking that created it. Martin Fornage, the co-founder and chief technology officer of Enphase Energy, thought far outside the proverbial box and translated geek smarts into a solar revolution.
The engaging entrepreneur, who moved from Paris to Petaluma in 1992, explains how solar power works: "A solar panel puts out DC (direct current) energy like a car battery. It's a continuous stream of current when the sun is shining: always 'on.' But the electrical grid runs on AC (alternating current). It only works when you throw a switch, or plug something in (for example, a toaster).
Inverters convert DC power to AC, in order to push energy from solar panels onto the grid. While inverters have existed for more than a century — and solar-specific inverters for half that long — they've been neither efficient nor cost-effective.
Enter the hardware engineer. Fornage began working in the technology arena when "computer" meant a huge mainframe in a cold room, and VDTs (video display terminals) on each user's desk. Anyone under 35 may only know of such antiquated technology from visiting a data museum.
When the PC revolution happened, the guts of the computer migrated to the desktop, so that what the end user sat in front of contained the complete system. This became Fornage's template for creating a breakthrough solar inverter. He and partner Raghu Belur launched Enphase Energy in 2006.
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