SPARQ Systems Inc., a developer of smart microinverters for photovoltaic (PV) power systems, has closed a new round of financing, raising $Subscriber content.
Kingston, Ontario based SPARQ Systems, a spin-off company of Queen’s University through PARTEQ Innovations, has developed an efficient and low-cost microinverter solution that produces more AC power from PV panels for longer periods under lower light and partial shadowing conditions.
SPARQ recently entered into a partnership agreement with Sanmina-SCI Corporation (NASDAQ: SANM) to manufacture new microinverters and communications hubs for solar photovoltaic (PV) systems for the consumer market. The solar inverters will be produced for the Canadian market at Sanmina-SCI’s Ottawa facility, which is certified for Ontario’s Feed-in Tariff (FIT) program, and at Sanmina-SCI’s worldwide regional facilities for global demand.
2011年6月29日星期三
2011年6月26日星期日
Volume manufacturing of its devices by Celestica
In addition to expanding its manufacturing, the company plans to add to its sales support operations and to build its research and development teams for future products.
The company has posted openings for product managers and an information technology manager and engineers.
SolarBridge, which has raised $46 million to date, is a leading maker of advanced and efficient microinverters that improve the reliability of rooftop solar power systems, increase energy production and save costs by simplifying installation.
The company, which is expanding rapidly in Austin, expects to employ 75 people worldwide by the end of this year. It has announced partnerships with two major makers of solar panels, Kyocera Solar Inc. and SunPower Corp., and it expects to announce more partners soon. The first panels with its inverters installed should be available for sale this summer.
Volume manufacturing of its devices by Celestica, an international contract manufacturer, started in April at its factory in Dongguan, China.
CEO Ron Van Dell said SolarBridge operates in a segment of the solar power market that accounts for about $3 billion a year in global sales. Much of the industry's focus so far has been on how to make solar panels more cheaply and efficiently. But now, Van Dell said, industry attention is shifting to power inverters, which can be another area for improving savings and reliability.
The company, which licenses technical discoveries made at the University of Illinois, uses advanced power electronics to create an inverter that it says will work for 25 years or longer and "harvest" more than 95 percent of the energy produced by solar panels.
The company has posted openings for product managers and an information technology manager and engineers.
SolarBridge, which has raised $46 million to date, is a leading maker of advanced and efficient microinverters that improve the reliability of rooftop solar power systems, increase energy production and save costs by simplifying installation.
The company, which is expanding rapidly in Austin, expects to employ 75 people worldwide by the end of this year. It has announced partnerships with two major makers of solar panels, Kyocera Solar Inc. and SunPower Corp., and it expects to announce more partners soon. The first panels with its inverters installed should be available for sale this summer.
Volume manufacturing of its devices by Celestica, an international contract manufacturer, started in April at its factory in Dongguan, China.
CEO Ron Van Dell said SolarBridge operates in a segment of the solar power market that accounts for about $3 billion a year in global sales. Much of the industry's focus so far has been on how to make solar panels more cheaply and efficiently. But now, Van Dell said, industry attention is shifting to power inverters, which can be another area for improving savings and reliability.
The company, which licenses technical discoveries made at the University of Illinois, uses advanced power electronics to create an inverter that it says will work for 25 years or longer and "harvest" more than 95 percent of the energy produced by solar panels.
2011年4月1日星期五
Echelon and Direct Grid bring the benefits of energy control networks to Solar Power
Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ: ELON) announced that Direct Grid Technologies, LLC, a manufacturer of photovoltaic (PV) micro‐inverters for utility and commercial grade solar power generation, will be adding Echelon energy control networking to its micro-inverter products. Micro-inverters convert electricity generated by PV panels from direct to alternating current at the individual panel. This increases the overall reliability and efficiency of the entire solar power installation. By integrating the solar panels into a power line communicating energy control network with Echelon's technology, Direct Grid can offer improved diagnostics, remote management and control, and lower the life cycle cost of the installation. The energy control network can be leveraged by Direct Grid and its customers over the lifetime of the panel installation, even as PV panel technology advances.
"PV panel efficiency is constantly improving but by small increments. Adding energy control networking to our micro-inverter products allows us to address efficiency at a system level and provide substantial additional performance improvement"
As part of its strategy to transform the electricity grid into a distributed, reliable and survivable energy control network, Echelon is working with its commercial customers to inject intelligence into their products so that they can analyze and act immediately in response to dynamic grid conditions to maximize efficiency, reliability and cost-effectiveness. Echelon is focusing this work with companies providing solar power solutions, smart street lighting and building energy management. Today's announcement with Direct Grid is the latest deliverable on this strategy.
"PV panel efficiency is constantly improving but by small increments. Adding energy control networking to our micro-inverter products allows us to address efficiency at a system level and provide substantial additional performance improvement," said Frank Cooper, Direct Grid's president and principal. "Echelon's energy control network multiplies the benefits of micro-inverters and gives us tremendous system control capabilities as well as insight into what is happening throughout the installation – system wide, by rows of panels, and at the individual panel. Efficiency and control are the combination that our customers want."
According to Direct Grid, using Echelon's energy control networking technology was the right choice because it integrates well with other equipment, scales easily and cost effectively to meet the expanding needs of Direct Grid customers because it is more reliable and less costly to install and maintain than competing systems. Echelon's power line signaling technology, combined with its industry-leading SmartServer energy manager, has proven field reliability in the energy industry, delivering exceptional performance in utility and commercial applications with tens of millions of homes and more than a 100 million devices.
Anders Axelsson, Echelon's senior vice president, commercial markets added, "Our energy control networking technology coupled with innovations like Direct Grid's micro-inverters combine control of energy supply and demand right at the edge of the grid, facilitating the evolution of the smart grid. This combination is a big step forward in delivering low-cost, reliable, manageable, renewable energy."
"PV panel efficiency is constantly improving but by small increments. Adding energy control networking to our micro-inverter products allows us to address efficiency at a system level and provide substantial additional performance improvement"
As part of its strategy to transform the electricity grid into a distributed, reliable and survivable energy control network, Echelon is working with its commercial customers to inject intelligence into their products so that they can analyze and act immediately in response to dynamic grid conditions to maximize efficiency, reliability and cost-effectiveness. Echelon is focusing this work with companies providing solar power solutions, smart street lighting and building energy management. Today's announcement with Direct Grid is the latest deliverable on this strategy.
"PV panel efficiency is constantly improving but by small increments. Adding energy control networking to our micro-inverter products allows us to address efficiency at a system level and provide substantial additional performance improvement," said Frank Cooper, Direct Grid's president and principal. "Echelon's energy control network multiplies the benefits of micro-inverters and gives us tremendous system control capabilities as well as insight into what is happening throughout the installation – system wide, by rows of panels, and at the individual panel. Efficiency and control are the combination that our customers want."
According to Direct Grid, using Echelon's energy control networking technology was the right choice because it integrates well with other equipment, scales easily and cost effectively to meet the expanding needs of Direct Grid customers because it is more reliable and less costly to install and maintain than competing systems. Echelon's power line signaling technology, combined with its industry-leading SmartServer energy manager, has proven field reliability in the energy industry, delivering exceptional performance in utility and commercial applications with tens of millions of homes and more than a 100 million devices.
Anders Axelsson, Echelon's senior vice president, commercial markets added, "Our energy control networking technology coupled with innovations like Direct Grid's micro-inverters combine control of energy supply and demand right at the edge of the grid, facilitating the evolution of the smart grid. This combination is a big step forward in delivering low-cost, reliable, manageable, renewable energy."
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