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8/26/2010

SMA Becomes the First Manufacturer Worldwide to Receive UL Certification for Its Transformerless Inverters

SMA Solar Technology AG continues to set the course for an increased use of transformerless solar inverters in the United States. The leading manufacturer of solar inverters has become the first company in the world to receive certification from Underwriters Laboratories (UL) for transformerless inverters. The certification applies to SMA transformerless Sunny Boy 8000TL-US, Sunny Boy 9000TL-US, and Sunny Boy 10000TL-US inverters, and was granted as a result of complying with "UL Standard 1741 for PV and Battery-Powered Inverters", which includes requirements on tranformerless inverters for the first time.

This UL certification can be seen as laying the foundation for the safe and wide-spread use of transformerless inverters in the US. Due to the special requirements of American standards, up until now PV plants here were almost always designed using galvanically isolating devices. In comparison, transformerless inverters are more efficient (among other benefits), which means the operators will benefit accordingly as a result of maximum energy yield. In addition, their reduced weight will make it significantly easier for installers to mount the devices.

UL is one of the world's most renowned product safety certification organizations, and working together with SMA, developed a highly complex testing procedure for transformerless inverters. In addition to other things, monitoring residual currents and ground faults were integrated, which means maximum safety for the user. As a result, the UL 1741 Standard of Safety was expanded accordingly to include the requirements of the IEC 62109 Standard. In contrast to string inverters, SMA's certified inverters also have an attractive price-performance ratio and above-average efficiency of up to 98 percent according to the California Energy Commission (CEC).

Posted at 5:03 PM by Steve Clouther | Category: SmartGrid | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

8/6/2010

SMA’s Solar Inverters Receives Certification in Accordance with the BDEW’s Medium Voltage Directive

SMA Solar Technology AG is the first solar inverter manufacturer whose equipment has been certified according to the technical directive for “Power Generation Equipment Connected to the Medium-Voltage Power Grid” issued by the German Federal Association for Energy and Water (Bundesverband der Energie- und Wasserwirtschaft in German, BDEW). Germanischer Lloyd carried out the certification process for SMA’s central inverters Sunny Central 400HE-11, Sunny Central 500HE-11, and Sunny Central 630HE-11.

Among other things, the directive requires for the first time ever equipment to have the ability to feed reactive power to the grid. SMA is currently the only inverter manufacturer to receive certification pursuant to the BDEW’s Medium Voltage Directive. As the leading inverter manufacturer, SMA was faster than its competitors in offering certified equipment that meets the requirements of the Medium Voltage Directive. With the certified inverters, PV systems can now contribute to voltage stability and ride-through capability. As a result, the conditions have been created to allow more photovoltaic systems to be integrated into the distribution network. As established in the BDEW’s directive, the unit certification is, in turn, the prerequisite for receiving system certification for PV systems with an output of 1 MWac or more.

After incorporating the first wind energy plants into the grid control system long ago, corresponding regulations and guidelines have now also been in place for larger PV systems since the beginning of 2009. The amended German Renewable Energy Act sets forth that in general, systems with an output which exceed 100 kW must participate in the feed-in management system: they must be able to restrict real power fed into the grid by a defined percentage of their nominal power at the network operator’s request.

The BDEW’s Medium Voltage Directive applies to all energy generation systems which feed power into the medium-voltage grid. It was updated during the summer of 2008, and, in addition to the "grid stability management", it also creates far-reaching requirements for the plants. For example, similar to high-voltage and ultra-high-voltage grids, generation systems which feed power into the medium-voltage grid must also participate in grid controls. During normal operation, they must contribute to voltage stability in the medium-voltage grid by feeding in a desired amount of reactive power, and they are no longer allowed to immediately disconnect from the grid in case of failure. The purpose of these extremely complex technical requirements is to maintain the stability of the grids even in case of failures. Similarly strict regulations are increasingly applied in other countries as well.

Posted at 9:07 AM by Steve Clouther | Category: SmartGrid | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

7/30/2010

SMA Expands North American Utility-Scale PV Inverter Line

SMA America LLC, the U.S.-based subsidiary of global solar technology leader SMA Solar Technology AG, has expanded its U.S. line of utility products with the Sunny Central High Efficiency (HE) line of solar inverters. The new 500 and 630 kilowatt inverters provide integrators, project developers and EPCs with a utility-scale 1000VDC solution that features the industry's best efficiency in the medium voltage interconnection category.

The Sunny Central 500HE features a maximum output of 550 kVA, while the 630HE produces 700 kVA. Both provide full AC-rated active power while maintaining a 0.9 lagging/leading power factor range while operating continuously at 50 degrees Celsius. By connecting to an external medium voltage transformer to accommodate long distance power feeds to distribution substations, the HE line is ideal for utility installations and industry leading maximum and weighted efficiencies of 98.6 and 98.4 percent result in an outstanding energy yield.

Integrated grid management features, such as remote control of active and reactive power, automatic over-frequency response, automatic power factor adjustment, power curtailment and low voltage ride through, provide power system operators with essential grid stability tools, making the Sunny Central HE line extremely grid-friendly.

Available with a 99 percent uptime guarantee, the new inverters are also designed to increase ROI for developers by maximizing energy production.

Two Sunny Central 500HE or 630HE inverters can be combined in a packaged solution with one medium voltage transformer to provide a 1.00MW-MV Station or 1.25MW-MV Station, both of which simplify large-scale deployment.

The Modbus Gateway, OPC/ODBC interface and open SCADA communications allow for easy integration of the high efficiency inverters into existing plant, utility or third party monitoring systems.

SMA’s North American HE line also consists of the Sunny Central 500HE-US, launched earlier in the year, which is designed for large-scale projects requiring UL-listing and is also available with a medium voltage transformer in a 1.00MW-MV Station.

Posted at 10:13 AM by Steve Clouther | Category: SmartGrid | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

7/26/2010

GE Expands Relationship with Smart Grid Company SynapSense Through Investment

SynapSense Corporation, whose technology improves energy efficiency and cuts power and cooling costs in data centers, announced that it is deepening its relationship with GE by securing an investment and commercial partnership as part of a focus on digital energy services, the Smart Grid and ecomagination.

GE Energy Financial Services is joining SynapSense’s investors Emerald Technology Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Robert Bosch Venture Capital, American River Ventures, Nth Power and DFJ Frontier in a combined $5 million investment for the development and market expansion of SynapSense’s Data Center Monitoring, Adaptive Control and Energy Management technology. Additional financial details of the investment were not disclosed.

GE, which has used SynapSense technology in many of its data centers including GE Corporate and NBC Universal since 2008, will now collaborate with SynapSense on digital energy through a commercial partnership with GE Intelligent Platforms, a technology business that provides software, hardware, services, and expertise in automation and embedded computing. The partnership will combine SynapSense’s technology with GE Intelligent Platform’s Proficy Software and Control platform. This combined offering will enable data center operators to optimize energy use by continuously aligning cooling capacity with changes in IT load, saving up to 35 percent of cooling costs while ensuring security, redundancy and resiliency. GE’s Proficy software provides real-time insight on data center and other operational performance metrics to give customers information to make better business decisions.

Ecomagination is GE’s commitment to imagine and build innovative solutions to environmental challenges while driving economic growth. It is designed to help meet customers’ demand for more energy-efficient products and drive GE’s growth. GE Energy Financial Services has been an active investor in emerging, market-leading ecomagination-, Smart Grid- and digital energy services-related technology companies.

SynapSense’s Data Center Monitoring and Energy Management solutions have been deployed in data centers operated by Fortune 500 companies globally.

Posted at 3:33 PM by Craig Resnick | Category: SmartGrid | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

7/22/2010

AEG Power Solutions Solar Inverter for Megawatt Applications Achieves Shining Efficiency

A report jointly issued by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) and Bureau Veritas shows that AEG Power Solutions’ Protect PV.250 solar inverter offers remarkable efficiency. Energy conversion efficiency testing conducted according to European Standard EN 50530 yielded a very high efficiency grade of 98.7%.

AEG Power Solutions, wholly-owned by 3W Power Holdings S.A. (Euronext Amsterdam 3WP, ISIN GG00B39QCR01, WKN A0Q5SX), is a global provider of premium power electronics.

Energy conversion efficiency testing was conducted at eight different power levels, nine DC voltage levels and for two module technologies (thin film and crystalline technology, both used in solar farms). MPPT testing, performed by ISE according to the same European EN 50530 standard, yielded a Maximum Power Point (MPP) efficiency grade of 99.99%. ISE also reported that the PV.250 inverter, launched in Sept. 2009, successfully complied with EN 50530 dynamic requirements.

Testing was conducted by Fraunhofer ISE, the largest solar energy research institute in Europe, and by Bureau Veritas, an international group specialized in the inspection, analysis, audit, and certification of products, infrastructure and management systems according to regulatory or voluntary standards.

Designed for power plants generating from one to several hundred megawatts, the AEG Power Solutions Protect PV.250 inverter was developed and is manufactured in Warstein-Belecke, Germany.

Orders totalling 40 MW were already booked at the end of the second quarter, mainly for Germany, the Czech Republic and Italy, but also for Belgium and France. Certification for Italian grid operator ENEL has also been achieved. This means PV 250 will soon be included in the ENEL listing, a very promising achievement for AEG Power Solutions on this market.

Posted at 9:04 AM by Steve Clouther | Category: SmartGrid | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

7/20/2010

Direct Grid Technologies Introduces the DGM Series Micro‐inverter for Monocrystalline and Polycrystalline Photovoltaic Modules

Direct Grid Technologies, LLC, manufacturer of photovoltaic (PV) micro‐inverters and related monitoring systems, announced a new series of OEM grid‐tie microinverters that mate to a variety of monocrystalline and polycrystalline type modules. The DGMS250 offers a power output of 250 watts, and the DGM‐S460 offers an unprecedented 460 watts.

Similar to its predecessor, the DGA Series, the DGM Series units use Direct Grid’s unique closed loop MOSFET planar architecture which offers high power and excellent thermal management, resulting in unparalleled efficiency and reliability.

The DGM‐S250 is designed to mate with a single 60 cell 210‐240 watt module, while the DGM‐S460 is suited to mate with a two 60 cell 210‐240 watt modules. For original equipment manufacturers, power tracking voltage inputs can be modified to suit custom maximum power point ranges.

The SMART DGM Series also includes Echelon communication that permits each micro‐inverter in the network to communicate with a remote access node. Power data, temperature, diagnostics and unique identification code are routinely collected from each micro‐inverter. This network communication also enables the benefit of theft deterrence by monitoring the unique identification of each micro‐inverter. The resulting data can be graphically presented to end users for easy system monitoring.

Certifications targeted for the DGM Series will include UL1741/IEEE1547, VDE 0126, FCC Part15 and CE. Direct Grid expects certifications and product shipments to lead customers beginning in the third quarter 2010.

Posted at 3:11 PM by Steve Clouther | Category: SmartGrid | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

7/16/2010

Satcon Launches Solstice 500 Kilowatt System for Large Scale Solar Power Plants in North America

Satcon Technology Corporation, a leading provider of utility scale power solutions for the renewable energy market, announced the launch of the Satcon Solstice 500 kilowatt system solution, now available in North America. The Solstice 500 kilowatt system expands upon Satcon's portfolio of industry leading solar PV inverter technologies designed to address the needs of large multi -megawatt, utility scale systems, including the PowerGate Plus 500 kW, the Prism 1 MW medium voltage package solution, and the 1 MW PowerGate Plus inverter solution.

Satcon Solstice is the industry's first complete distributed power conversion system, delivering fine grained power harvesting and control with advanced utility ready grid interconnection. The 500 kW solution will join the previously launched 100 kW UL and the 125 kW CE systems to provide for a wider range of system designs that can be addressed with the Solstice solution suite.

Solstice revolutionizes large utility and commercial solar power plants by allowing the central inverter to monitor, manage and control the array at less than 3 kilowatt increments, as well as optimize each string with its own individual Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT). The combination of fine grained harvesting of each panel string along with a highly efficient central inverter design insures the Solstice platform will deliver more power over the lifetime of the PV system by increasing total system harvest optimization and system uptime and safety. This results in an increase in total power production by 5-12 percent over designs using standard inverters, while simultaneously reducing the overall system material costs by 20- 25 percent.

Posted at 10:23 AM by Steve Clouther | Category: SmartGrid | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

7/15/2010

Smart Grid in Europe — An Update

By Florian Güldner and Harry Forbes.

Europe is as diverse in its smart grid initiatives and energy policies as in its culture and economic outlook. Some countries are pioneers in smart grid technology and implementation, but others are adopting very slowly. The many reasons for this different performance encompass political, economical, social, and technical factors. However, one of the most striking facts is that in many European countries, the grid, which is generally highly developed, performs well with few major outages, so far.

ARC clients can view the complete report at Smart Grid in Europe — An Update

If you would like to buy this report or obtain information about how to become a client, please contact info@arcweb.com

Posted at 5:50 PM by Florian Güldner | Category: SmartGrid | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

7/1/2010

Yokogawa Announces HXS10 Controller for Solar Tracking Applications

Yokogawa Electric Corporation announces the July 1 release of the HXS10 controller. This new product controls the actuation systems that move heliostats (reflectors) and photovoltaic panels. The HXS10 helps maximize power generating efficiency by controlling the angles of heliostats and solar panels so they stay pointed at the sun as it moves across the sky.

Product features of HXS10 include:

1. Low-cost / high-value design

The HXS10 is designed specifically for the control of solar tracking systems. Compared to general-purpose controllers, such as PLCs, this controller has lower initial costs and requires less engineering time.

2. Excellent environmental resistance

The HXS10 is built of environmentally resistant and durable components and can withstand temperatures ranging from –20°C to +70°C. This product is optimal for the control of solar power generating facilities installed in deserts and other harsh locations.

3. Communication functions

The HXS10 has a communication function that allows it to be monitored by a host system in a central control room. Moreover, to eliminate communication traffic overload and create a more secure and stable communication environment, each HXS10’s communications can be routed to the host system via another HXS10 unit.

Posted at 11:04 AM by Steve Clouther | Category: SmartGrid | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

6/17/2010

The Smart Grid Software Market: Current Status and Future Developments

By Clint Reiser and Harry Forbes.

The smart grid software market has qualities of both a mature and a high-growth market. The market has existed for some time, yet is currently experiencing resurgence in growth, driven by worldwide technology and infrastructure spending supported by sovereign investment programs. While many countries have sovereign investment programs focused on grid infrastructure, China, India, and the United States have made the most significant investments. These programs will have a profound effect on the future developments of this technology market.

ARC clients can view the complete report at The Smart Grid Software Market: Current Status and Future Developments

If you would like to buy this report or obtain information about how to become a client, please contact info@arcweb.com

Posted at 9:45 PM by Steve Clouther | Category: SmartGrid | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

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