sonnen, the European market leader for smart storage systems, has announced a partnership with SolarWorld, the largest crystalline-silicon solar manufacturer in the U.S. and PetersenDean, the nation’s largest residential roofing company with more than a million roofs under its belt. This new package brings best-in-class solar-plus-storage technology to the U.S. market and gives people a straightforward access for using renewable energy. Additionally sonnen is working with Spruce, an expert in residential solar and efficiency financing, to develop new financing for energy storage.

Solar Power World

In light of Ideal Power’s recent partnerships and new solar+storage solutions, Solar Power World reached out to John Merritt, the company’s Director of Applications Engineering, to provide more insight into the company’s technology and business model.

Solar Power World: Can you provide a little background on what your company offers for solar?

John Merritt, Ideal Power’s Director of Applications Engineering

Merritt: Ideal Power’s power conversion systems excel at solar + storage for peak demand management, demand shifting and microgrid applications. Our systems make this possible using a single multiport converter, whereas conventional technology requires an inverter for the PV array and a separate battery converter for storage.

Integrating solar with battery storage also requires bi-directional capabilities to direct energy flow from the energy source input (solar array or grid) to the battery and from the battery back to the grid. Our technology is designed to be inherently bi-directional. As a result, our power conversion systems have much lower conversion losses than conventional power conversion systems.

SPW: Can you explain more about how Ideal Power’s Power Packet Switching Architecture (PPSA) works?

Merritt: Our technology goes far beyond the capabilities of a single-purpose inverter (DC to AC), with the additional capability of acting as a battery converter (AC to DC). The comparison is probably better drawn to conventional power conversion systems.

Our Power Packet Switching Architecture (PPSA) eliminates the need for many of the bulky and inefficient components that have been standard hardware for power conversion systems for decades. By eliminating transformers, electrolytic capacitors, large line reactors and filter circuits, we’ve been able to increase efficiency and reliability while significantly decreasing the size and weight of power conversion systems by an average of 75%. In addition, our technology produces far less heat than conventional technology so we’ve also eliminated liquid cooling systems, which are commonly prone to failure.

PPSA functions using a magnetic component that we call an “AC Link” which provides electrical isolation without a transformer. The AC Link charges, the voltage is rotated within the link and then discharged in a process that takes place about 14,000 times per second.

When integrating renewable sources, such as solar, with energy storage, traditional power converters use multi-step/multi-trip power conversion that further compromises system efficiency and power throughput. Multi-port PPSA technology replaces this process and eliminates the isolation transformer losses, improving the PV-to-storage-to-grid conversion efficiencies by 5% or more.

SPW: How and why are you working with KACO new energy?

Merritt: As part of Ideal Power’s capital-efficient business model, we have contracted our manufacturing to an outside partner to keep our costs low.

Our systems are being manufactured and white labeled for KACO new energy to sell under its own brand. Our agreement with KACO also allows the company to use our PPSA technology to develop its own differentiated products and integrated energy storage systems.

This is another part of our capital-efficient business model. It will allow us to add an additional revenue stream without the costs associated with materials, manufacturing and shipping.

SPW: I see you’ve also partnered with other storage companies such as Sharp, Green Charge Networks, Sonnenbatterie and Aquion Energy. What’s your strategy for working with these businesses?

Merritt: First and foremost, Ideal Power is a technology company. Our focus is to deliver efficient, flexible and cost-effective power converter solutions (whether Ideal branded, white labeled, and/or converter IP) to our integration partners, who then bundle our technology with batteries, controls and BoS components. These partners provide additional value-add, such as analytics and reporting, installation services and project financing. Entering the integration business is not part of our competency or business strategy, and would create competitive friction with our end customers. We do, however, provide technical support and training for our integration partners. For instance, we test with our battery manufacturer  partners to ensure compatibly with our technology. This support work benefits all parties in the energy-storage supply chain.

Solar Power World

Fronius USA, the leading solar string inverter manufacturer, has recently announced its Fronius Service Provider (FSP) program training opportunities and new online webinars available to individuals interested in learning more about their solar products.

The FSP program is a NABCEP-certified, in-person training program held at Fronius’ national headquarters in Northwest Indiana. Ideal for solar installers and O&M professionals, the FSP program is an exclusive opportunity to gain hands-on training on the field service of Fronius inverters. Once an installer is FSP certified on a product they are hosted exclusively online on Fronius Solar.web, and enter an agreement with Fronius as a certified installer in the field.

The first FSP trainings for the year are March 8th (Fronius IG Series), March 9th (Fronius IG Plus Series), March 10th (Fronius Galvo/Fronius Primo up to 8.2 kW Series) and March 11th (Fronius Primo 10-15 kW / Fronius Symo Series). Each day session is $295 and includes FSP certification on that series, materials, food and 8 NABCEP Continuing Education Credits. To register or for additional information, please email pv-training-usa@fronius.com.

Fronius is also pleased to be hosting several new online webinars every month. Each webinar will focus uniquely on one specific Fronius product or will offer a quick overview of all Fronius technology now available. These are great opportunities to chat live with a Fronius technology expert and gain more in-depth knowledge in new technologies like Revenue Grade Meter and Rapid Shutdown.

Additional technical trainings will also be available at upcoming industry tradeshows including Solar Power PV Conference and Expo, COSEIA, Intersolar East, Solar Power Southwest and Southeast, and many more.

To register for the free online webinars, visit http://www.fronius-usa.com.

Solar Power World

By Ron Van Dell, CEO of ViZn Energy Systems

Much of the activity for solar + storage the past few years has been in the commercial & industrial sector. Now, there is an increasing interest in energy storage coming from utilities. Utilities are exploring large-scale energy storage as a means of delivering various services such as frequency response, peak shifting and transmission and distribution upgrade deferral.

Flow batteries are designed to provide long-duration energy services, but most options on the market are not able to perform in applications that require high power like frequency regulation. ViZn’s flow battery technology is designed for both energy and power applications, which provides more value to the end user. Energy storage investments that can provide multiple revenue streams through a number of different applications offer a higher rate of return. Additionally, Vizn is positioned to deliver additional services into day-ahead capacity markets that strictly require four-hour service windows.

Technology roots in Lockheed Martin
ViZn was founded in 2009 to commercialize technology originally researched by Lockheed Martin and the Department of Energy. We’ve taken the technology to a point where it is ready for the grueling demands of utility customers. Our engineers have built and tested more than 300 prototypes in search of perfecting a system that will last 20 years—about the life of a solar project. Today, we are able to offer a robust system that delivers energy and power in an economical and safe package.

Why zinc-iron works
ViZn’s zinc-iron chemistry has tremendous safety, capacity and cost advantages over other flow battery chemistries, like vanadium. Our chemistry is non-toxic, non-flammable and non-explosive. This is crucial in deployments near critical infrastructure and in places where people live and work. Energy storage can provide maximum value when it is deployed toward the edge of the grid near the end user. These are typically highly-populated areas where toxic chemicals present obvious concerns. ViZn’s inherently safe alkaline chemistry doesn’t pose the health, safety or environmental risks present with other flow battery chemistries or lithium-ion. In fact, zinc and iron are food-grade additives that can be found in a large number of off-the-shelf products at your local grocery store.

Lithium-ion batteries have strict limitations on their ability to perform certain functions because of safety concerns (like thermal runaway), resulting in fewer available cycles per day. Typically, lithium-ion is not recommended for use at high or low state-of-charge (SOC) (above 80% or below 30%). Half of the battery capacity is off limits, governed by the control system, to prevent accelerated degradation. Lithium-ion batteries experience rapid degradation in their capacity even under normal use. Typical economic models of storage projects call for complete replacement of lithium-ion battery stacks within the project’s life, while the ViZn cells last 20 years with limited and low cost O&M. Lastly, lithium-ion battery performance and degradation are greatly impacted by ambient temperature, whereas ViZn’s technology is unaffected. Lithium-ion uses massive HVAC systems to cool them under strenuous duty cycles. These HVAC systems increase the parasitic load on Li-ion batteries, lowering their round trip efficiency. The more demanding the situation, the less efficient they are. ViZn’s flow batteries can safely operate at high ambient temperatures without HVAC loads and don’t pose any fire risk.

Flow batteries operate by pumping the chemical electrolyte through the battery cells to charge or discharge the system. ViZn’s system, specifically, stores energy by electroplating zinc in the battery cell and discharging in reverse. The company’s GS200 flow system shown here is similar to what will be deployed in a Hecate project this year with the Ontario IESO.

From a cost perspective, both zinc and iron are globally abundant and exceedingly cheap compared to vanadium, and they are not as subject to price fluctuations in the same way that less abundant chemicals like vanadium are. When we ship a flow battery to a customer, we are typically able to source the chemical powders locally, saving on logistical costs.

In addition to providing multiple revenue streams and quicker payback periods, the multi-use capabilities of our flow battery future-proofs the technology against a changing mix of application requirements. It is difficult to predict which kind of services energy storage will be required to fulfill 10 or 15 years down the road. Will you need long-duration or high-power capabilities? If a battery with a 20-year life can fulfill both applications, the end user doesn’t run the risk of ending up with a stranded asset that can’t perform.

Installations

• An installation at Randolph-Macon College in Virginia is a PV-integrated flow battery project in partnership with Dominion Virginia Power, an East Coast utility. The system was commissioned and unveiled in April of 2015.
• BlueSky Energy partnered with ViZn for an installation in Austria as part of a community microgrid project in 2013.
• Hecate chose ViZn for a 2-MW (6-MWh) flow battery system that will be deployed in 2016 with the Ontario IESO.
• A 128-kW (320-kWh) order from the DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory is also scheduled for deployment in 2016.ViZn currently has about 50 MWh of business under contract and will be announcing specific projects and customers in the coming months.

Solar Power World

Article by Megan Birney, Director of Strategic Affairs, Wiser Capital

We have known for decades the importance and benefits of solar power, evident by its rapid adoption. A new solar project was installed every two minutes in 2015. GTM Research forecasts that the U.S. solar PV market as a whole will grow 19% over 2014. These numbers seem impressive, but solar still accounts for less than 0.5% of the total electricity generation in the U.S.  So how do we take the market from its infancy to wide-spread adoption?

To start answering this question, we must divide the solar market into two factions: the rated and unrated markets. Rated solar, encompassing any project where the purchaser of electricity has a public debt rating from agencies like Moody’s or Standard & Poor’s, is booming. This is because banks and other lending agencies providing capital for solar projects believe they will be repaid based on the borrower’s public debt rating. Examples include companies like Amazon, Apple and Google, which have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in solar to offset electricity at their offices and data centers.

The unrated market, on the other hand, involves individuals, organizations and businesses that are too small or unknown for a public debt rating. Their assets largely remain a mystery to lending organizations, so capital to finance projects is slow to arrive. Examples include local businesses, school districts, homeowners and even municipalities.

Sociologist E.M. Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation Theory notes five distinct consumer segments that determine if a product or service is to become a phenomenon.

The rated solar market currently falls into the Early Adopters category. According to Rogers, Early Adopters “represent opinion leaders … They are already aware of the need to change so are very comfortable adopting new ideas.” This describes companies like Amazon, Apple and Google.
Unfortunately, the unrated market is only at the start of the curve in the Innovators stage. It hasn’t seen as much development because there hasn’t been an efficient way to assess risk without a public debt rating. But this market has a broad range of potential solar facilities that are prime for market explosion. Innovators, according to Rogers, “are venturesome and interested in new ideas. These people are very willing to take risks, and are often the first to develop new ideas.”

So who are the Innovators? Innovators are the first nonprofits in a community that switch from their traditional utility electricity to a solar power purchase agreement, the solar installation companies that market to home owner associations and private schools, and  investors that work to understand the unique aspects and immense potential in the almost 30 million small businesses nationwide. The unrated solar industry still needs more Innovators.

Gauging solar’s ease of adoption

Rogers’ theory goes on to discuss five factors that influence adoption of an innovation:

Relative advantage: The degree to which an innovation is seen as better than the idea, program or product it replaces

Compatibility: How consistent the innovation is with the values, experiences and needs of the potential adopters

Complexity: How difficult the innovation is to understand and use

Triability: The extent to which the innovation can be tested or experimented with before a commitment to adopt is made

Observability: The extent to which the innovation provides tangible results

As the solar industry begins to move all market players further into the bell curve, keeping these factors in mind could mean the difference between a fast switch and market stagnation. Luckily, solar electricity has strong showing in three of the five categories. A refrigerator or air conditioner doesn’t know the difference between an electron from a solar panel and one from a natural gas-fired power plant, but a consumer’s balance sheet and conscious does. This means solar has a relative advantage over traditional fossil-based fuels. Additionally, solar is highly compatible with our existing infrastructure. We don’t need new fuel stations or appliances to accept the solar electricity. Lastly, solar is “observable”—the electricity produced has a direct dollar equivalent in terms of electricity savings or return on investment. You can’t see the electrons, but you can see the impact.

Unfortunately, solar can seem complex to consumers and investors. For those who don’t understand the difference between a kW and a kWh, buying solar and comparing it to an existing electricity bill can be daunting. Even investors who have participated in the rated solar market have a difficult time with the unrated solar market without a third party to measure risks. Tariff flipping, grid interconnection, lack of standardization and transaction costs all add to the complexity. And in its traditional form, solar is almost impossible to “try” before you buy.

Cementing the solar market in 2016

To spur adoption, the solar industry needs to focus on complexity and triability while using observability. Complexity can be tackled through standardization and marketing. All segments have benefited from contract standardization and the work of Solar Access to Public Capital (SAPC), though there is room for continued improvements. For the unrated market, standardization in risk assessment is imperative.  Tools like the Wiser Solar Asset Rating (WSAR) score allow investors to better access the risk and reward of projects. Through an automated process, WSAR calculates the bankability of a solar project and assigns a score (similar to a FICO score). This process can help investors become comfortable investing in a newer type of asset.

As mentioned, triability is a tough factor for solar, but a study from Yale and New York University in 2012 showed that solar is contagious. The study found that a 10% increase in the number of people with solar in a zip code increases adoption by 54%. While it might not be as effective as trying a product before buying it, seeing solar in action boosts adoption. Additionally, the evolution of community solar, where a solar array is centrally located and individuals or businesses can buy-in, can lead to further adoption by those who are unwilling to purchase a system outright.

These two issues can partly be solved by observability. The Early Majority need to “see evidence” and the Late Majority wait until it “has been tried by the majority.” Therefore it is of utmost importance to communicate the successes of solar. Investors want to see that money is safe, secure and supplying the return expected. Purchasers of solar electricity need to see the systems delivering savings and electricity generation, as predicted. By showing successful solar across the initial adopter categories, the later categories will be more willing to adopt solar and move the industry into the majority.

Solar Power World

Solar Power World

Conlan O’Leary, CEO of Sighten

Sighten, a software platform for the residential and commercial solar industry, provides a comprehensive solution to manage all aspects of the solar lifecycle including CRM, system design and proposals, and asset management. CEO Conlan O’Leary spoke with Solar Power World recently about the company and its software.

How is Sighten different from other solar software packages?

While there has been a lot of innovation in the solar software market recently, installers are still asking, “How does all of this fit together?” Lots of solar software startups have been working on specific nodes in the solar workflow like design, usage data, utility rates, etc., but most installers need and prefer for that functionality to be rolled up and put into a seamless package. For this reason, we’ve pursued a comprehensive platform that is customer-centric. Sighten is an application that a company could truly run their business on, as opposed to point solutions that solve very specific problems and need to be plugged in to a broader system.

What benefits do installers receive from using Sighten?

The overarching themes we’ve heard from customers are related to the numerous positive impacts of simplifying and consolidating business functionality. They’re able to grow their businesses and sell and install more solar, which is the most important goal for most companies. At the same time, they can achieve that growth while managing costs effectively and improving margins. They can use the same resources but get more mileage out of them.

Our customers can reduce all types of costs because they’re doing things more efficiently by leveraging best-in-class technology. For example, important messages aren’t getting lost in email. Teams can coordinate easily because they’re all running on the same platform.

Is there a utility-scale application for Sighten?

As solar projects get bigger, there is much more customization involved. A utility scale project, which can represent hundreds of millions of dollars, will always have an engineering team come out to the site, and you’ll have a specific financial model built for that project. As you go down in scale, however, it really is about having repeatable processes. And if you’re doing everything on a one-off basis in the residential sector, as is common in utility-scale, your costs will be high and you likely won’t be competitive. Sighten could work for utility scale developers, but the same need is not necessarily there.

When it comes to assisting the finance community, what can Sighten do?

Sighten has several applications for the finance side of the solar industry. We have portfolio and asset management modules that offer real-time data feeds and sophisticated analysis tools to quickly understand what’s happening with portfolios of solar projects. This is a dramatic improvement for investors who are used to getting monthly Excel reports that often have data integrity issues and limited flexibility in terms of analytical tools. In fact, some investors have called our platform a “Bloomberg Terminal” for the solar asset class.

We also help capital providers by getting them to market faster. There have been a lot of new lenders and PACE providers entering the residential and commercial solar markets. They have been a huge boon to the industry, but a lot of these new companies haven’t had the luxury of being in solar for years or having their own software team. They’re excited when they can partner with Sighten and go from 0 to 60 very quickly and start financing solar projects faster.

Do I have to be an expert to use Sighten?

Our mantra is “simplify complexity.” Ultimately, we want to deliver a really intuitive, easy-to-use software application that doesn’t sacrifice accuracy or rigor in the underlying calculations. That’s done through a painstaking design process and constant customer interaction, where we make sure everything is easy to use. So I’d say “no” to your question. Sighten makes what was previously complex and difficult for sales teams or investment teams simple, while maintaining the integrity of underlying calculations and workflows.

Sighten co-founder Graham Hommel and you have backgrounds at Clean Power Finance. How did that experience shape Sighten?

Our time at CPF was really formative as we helped build the financing capabilities there. It was a turbo-charged education on the residential solar industry. We really enjoyed our time there, and we met a lot of incredibly intelligent people who have moved the solar industry forward. When we decided to leave, it was really about Graham and I wanting to focus on pure software. I’m still a shareholder so I definitely wish them the best.

Sighten secured $3.5 million in venture capital financing in November from Obvious Ventures. What are you doing with that money?

As a software-as-a-service company, our biggest cost is headcount. We made a decision early on that the product was very important in this market. That may seem obvious, but a lot of software companies in the space have pursued an outsourced software engineering strategy, and I think that’s akin to saying that a simplified product will suffice. For those companies, it’s more about getting to market fast. We have 28 full-time people all based in the US and more than half of those are software engineers. The vast majority of that $3.5 million will go toward continuing to hire and assemble the best software team in the solar industry and ensuring that we have, by far, the most advanced software toolset for solar companies. But we will also invest in sales and marketing to make sure that this great product is getting out into the market.

What can you tell me about the solar project design aspect of the program?

We have a full design tool within the application. Harkening back to an earlier question, we strive to make the design functionality intuitive without sacrificing rigor and accuracy. There has been a lot of innovation in system design, but I think our ultimate customer is the sales team, not necessarily dedicated system designers. So it’s not a replica of AutoCAD, but it’s an easy-to-use design tool to get a quick, accurate proposal to the customer. I’m proud of that functionality, and we’ll be improving it rapidly in the first half of 2016.

In what form can you purchase Sighten?

We have a lot of flexibility in deployment. Because we have a lot of functionality, we recognize that some customers want to focus on a certain part of the platform, at least to start with. Fundamentally, it’s an a la carte offering. For enterprise customers, we’ll put together detailed plans and make sure they’re getting the right package for their needs. We also have an out-of-the-box offering for customers that don’t need as much configuration and who want to be up and running as fast as possible. Many customers have started selling and closing deals in a matter of days. That’s very important for us. We want people to be successful with Sighten immediately after signing a contract. You can go to our website, request a demo and sign up at any time.

Why have you chosen solar as your industry?

Throughout my career I’ve worked on projects and at companies with an environmental focus. I first worked in environmental commodities trading. When that market didn’t materialize, I worked in cleantech investment banking, and then I was at Clean Power Finance.

I care deeply about the environment, and I think climate change is the seminal issue of our generation and of our time, so I have tried to align myself with interesting, challenging work and innovative companies that are addressing these issues. I think Sighten is the culmination of that focus. It’s easy for me to hop out of bed in the morning because I know that, as we’re successful and as our customers are successful, we’re making a big dent in carbon emissions and positively impacting society.

How can people learn more about Sighten?

They can go to our website, sighten.io, and there are descriptions about our product and more information about the team. The easiest way to get in touch with us is to just request a demo. A representative will be in touch almost immediately, and we’ll see how we can work together.

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It might sound crazy, but there really is a formula to create the perfect tweet, luckily it’s not a top secret formula. Keep the following tips in mind to create the perfect tweet and increase engagement.

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With the recent multi-year extension of the investment tax credit (ITC) in the United States, PV installations are predicted to grow 60 percent year over year, reaching 15 GW in 2016. PV installations in the U.S. will reach record levels in 2016, primarily due to strong demand for utility-scale PV. The Western and Southwestern U.S. will account for the majority (65 percent) of total demand this year, according to IHS Inc, the leading global source of critical information and insight.”

“The extension of the tax credit relieves pressure on the industry to complete projects ahead of the 2016 deadline and breathes new life into the U.S. solar industry” said Camron Barati, North America solar analyst for IHS Technology. “Many feared the solar industry in the United States, which has experienced tremendous growth over the last several years, might collapse in 2017 without an extension of the ITC.”

The United States currently has a 50 GW pipeline of commercial and utility-scale PV projects from 2016 to 2019, according to the IHS Solar Intelligence Service – North America. While all market segments are expected to benefit from the ITC extension, utility-scale PV will benefit most and account for over half of newly added capacity from 2016 to 2019. “Residential and commercial PV will experience sustained growth through the forecast period,” Barati said, “but mounting pressure from utilities to revise retail net metering rates and the falling cost of  large-scale generation will limit growth opportunities in the U.S outside of well-established state markets.”

In 2017 the PV market in the United States will decline by 30 percent, due to lower demand for utility-scale PV, but will grow every year through the remainder of the forecast period. The Northeastern U.S. will be the only region in the country that will not experience a decline in 2017, due to a lower reliance on utility-scale PV demand and a higher proportion of residential and commercial PV demand. IHS has identified three U.S. states that are projected to install over 1 GW in 2016: California, Nevada and Texas.

The IHS Solar Intelligence Service – North America provides forecasts and analysis for installed PV capacity, operations and maintenance (O&M) and engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) coverage, as it tracks and analyzes project activity and balance of system (BOS) suppliers in North America.

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WINAICO was one of the first companies to mass produce solar modules with passivated emitter rear cell (PERC) technology. So it’s no surprise that WINAICO became the first company to reach 310 W in a 60-cell module with PERC in 2015. WINAICO explains the underlying properties of the PERC technologies and the key to breaking the 18.5% module efficiency barrier.

Structure of a PERC solar cell

Figure 1: Cross section of a PERC solar cell.

The solar cell quality is central to the solar module’s performance. In order to push the module efficiency beyond 18.5%, WINAICO uses the highest efficiency PERC solar cells from Taiwan. The PERC solar cell structure shown in Figure 1 contains a passivation layer on the rear side, which is then perforated with laser openings. This creates a local Back Surface Field (BSF) around each laser opening, before an aluminium layer is screen-printed at the back to create the contact layer.

Figure 2: Differences in light absorption between a PERC solar cell and a standard solar cell.

As light energy hits a standard solar cell, not all energy is absorbed; a small portion of light passes through the cell without being converted into usable energy, shown in Figure 2. The rear side passivation layer on a PERC solar cell functions as a power reflector and reflects the excess light back to the solar cell for a second absorption phase, resulting in higher solar cell efficiency.

PERC’s impact on real world solar installations

Figure 3: Differences in spectral response between a PERC solar cell and a standard solar cell.

The total energy in sunlight is the sum of energy across a wide range of wavelengths. Therefore a good solar cell technology needs to have excellent spectral response, across all wavelengths, matching the sunlight. When the sun shines on a standard solar cell, the shorter wavelengths below 500 nm (blue light) get absorbed by the solar cell, but the longer wavelengths above 620 nm (red light and infrared) may pass through the solar cell without being converted into useful energy. The extra reflector layer in the PERC solar cell is effective at reflecting infrared wavelengths longer than 1,000 nm for a second absorption phase, resulting in better response than standard cell technology across the whole spectrum, shown in Figure 3.

Figure 4: Differences in relative efficiency at different irradiance levels between a PERC module and a standard solar module.

During low light (dawn and dusk) and weak light (cloudy) conditions, the shorter wavelength blue light gets absorbed by the atmosphere, allowing higher proportion of long wavelength light to reach Earth. In such situations, PERC solar cells’ improved spectral response at long wavelengths allows the cells to perform better than standard cells, and maintain close to top efficiency at low light conditions, as illustrated by Figure 4. WINAICO’s PERC module is able to maintain close of 99% of its STC efficiency at 200 W/m² irradiance level, while a standard solar module’s relative efficiency drops to less than 96% at the same condition.

Figure 5: Differences in energy output across a whole day between WINAICO’s PERC module and a standard solar module.

As a result, the energy output of a WINAICO PERC module is higher than a standard module across a whole day, shown in Figure 5. A PERC installation is known to begin producing electricity earlier in the morning and stops later in the evening than an installation of conventional solar modules.

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Solar Power World is the industry source for solar technology, installation and development. Our mission is to help solar contractors, installers, EPCs and developers do their jobs better starting today.

Solar Power World offers weekly newsletters: Panels & Components, Inverter Insider, Racking & Mounting and Services & Software. Within these subjects we also feature installation tips, interviews with CEOs in our Contractors Corner and Solar Speaks podcast series, webinars and videos. Plus, be the first to know when we release our free digital editions of our bimonthly issue and annual Renewable Energy Handbook, as well as our Top Solar Contractors application and list! Don’t miss your chance to be recognized.

Stay up to date with the latest by subscribing now. 

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HellermannTyton announced the release of the Ratchet P Clamp, a patent-pending cable bundle and wire management solution for heavy equipment, OEM and automotive manufacturers, and solar photovoltaic system service providers. HellermannTyton is a global leader in cable management and protection products, identification systems and network connectivity solutions.

Engineered to streamline wire harness installation, Ratchet P Clamp also helps reduce maintenance costs. The one-piece PA66 nylon solid body and stamped metal mounting plate create a versatile, easy to use and durable alternative to traditional P clamps. Offered in four sizes and in multiple mounting configurations, the reusable design minimizes part inventory requirements.

Ratchet P Clamp’s adjustable ratchet mechanism is operated manually, clicking as it closes to signal that it is secure. It also can be closed with a HellermannTyton EVO Series hand tool, using an optional tension tab. The clamp is released by inserting a small flat-head screwdriver between the ratchet rails and pushing down.

According to Product Manager Missy DeBord, “Ratchet P Clamp was inspired by our customers’ requests for a lightweight cable fixing solution that will stand up to the rigors of heavy duty applications and extreme conditions. During on-site research, we learned that they often needed to route bundles side-byside, had to improvise to secure electrical runs as a final assembly step and find ‘work arounds’ for mounting challenges in constrained spaces. Ratchet P Clamp solves for all those challenges and helps you work smarter.”

The combination of increased efficiency and reduced inventory results in lower operational costs. In-depth information on the design and applications for Ratchet P Clamp is found at www.hellermanntyton.us/ratchetpclamp.

Solar Power World

Tigo announced the availability of the TS4-R. The TS4-R joins the family of the TS4 Platform which enables module manufacturers and installers to standardize on a single platform and utilize any of the cost effective Module Level Power Electronic (MLPE) functions currently available.

The TS4-R is a Retrofit or Add-on universal base. The TS4-R addresses the need for a retrofit solution that can be mounted on any existing installed PV system, connected into the existing PV module JBox, improving energy harvesting, greater flexibility, and increased control over project to the existing PV system. The offering for the retrofit project is composed of a two-piece solution: the TS4-R base, which is added on the solar module, and its covers, plug-and-play MLPE which can be swapped in and out. It supports any of the wide offering of the existing TS4 Platform functional covers. It can also be designed into a new system.

Like the TS4-B (Smart Module JBox), the TS4-R can be fit with any of the 5 different covers:

A customer can choose any of the 5 currently shipping covers (announced 2015):
TS4-L Long String
TS4-O Optimization
TS4-S Safety
TS4-M Monitoring
TS4-D Diodes
Attach any of the above covers to the TS4-R and get the functionality desired for the specific project at the lowest cost in the market.
The TS4-R is available for purchase immediately in 3 pre-assembled versions:
TS4-R-O Optimization
TS4-R-S Safety
TS4-R-M Monitoring
And of course as a stand-alone base:
TS4-R: Retrofit/add-on unit that can accommodate any TS4 Cover.

A customer can order the TS4-R as a stand-alone unit or buy a specific pre-assembled version like a TS4-R-O which is TS4-R plus TS4-O. Orders are accepted immediately, for price and delivery call +1.408.402.0802 ext. 1, email sales@tigoenergy.com or check our website at Tigoenergy.com

“The TS4 platform has been adopted by industry leading PV module partners. We are excited to introduce the TS4-R platform, which is a natural extension of our strategy,” said Zvi Alon, CEO of Tigo. “Tigo’s platform is already the most flexible in the world, working with all the major inverter and module manufacturers globally. The introduction of TS4-R gives the market the ability to deploy state of the art solution to existing installations, increasing the energy produced at the lowest ROI. In addition, installers get a greater degree of control over what they want and need for any given project.”

Solar Power World

Greenskies Renewable Energy has announced it will build a 2.7 megawatt municipal solar array in Lewis County, N.Y., the company’s first municipal project in New York.

The ground-mounted system will be built on a 19-acre cornfield behind the county Public Safety Building on Outer Stowe Street in the village of Lowville, the county seat. The array will consist of 8,500 solar photovoltaic panels.

“The clean energy generated by the system will produce enough electricity to provide the county with about half of its annual power requirements, and will save Lewis County and Lewis County General Hospital a guaranteed $3.3 million in energy costs over the 20-year term of the power purchase agreement between Greenskies and the county,” said Ittay Arad, vice president of business development at Greenskies.

The savings could exceed $5 million over the length of the agreement, depending on the amount of power the system produces.

“It became a no-brainer as we came to understand the economics of it,” said Lewis County Manager Liz Swearingin. “It will lower our energy costs for a long time.”

County officials formally executed the power purchase agreement on Jan. 20 in a ceremony at the Lewis County Office Building. Under the agreement, Greenskies will design, engineer, construct and maintain the new solar array, selling the electricity produced at the site back to the county at a fixed and significantly discounted rate.

Through a process called remote net-metering, the electricity produced at the site will be fed directly into the grid, resulting in utility bill credits that will be distributed virtually to the hospital and other county buildings, Arad said.

Construction on the project is expected to begin this summer and be completed in the fourth quarter of this year, weather permitting, Arad said.

Located in northwestern New York State, Lewis County is home to about 27,000 residents.

Greenskies is a company that designs, builds and maintains solar photovoltaic systems for commercial and industrial clients, municipalities and government agencies, educational institutions and utilities throughout the United States. Solar installations designed and built by Greenskies have now produced more than 80 million kilowatt hours of clean electric power.

Solar Power World

Cypress Creek Renewables, a developer and long-term owner of utility-scale solar energy facilities, has selected AlsoEnergy to provide monitoring for over 2 GW of solar projects currently in their development pipeline. These projects are all based in the U.S. and are scheduled to be deployed over the next 24–36 months.

Cypress Creek Renewables has a company mission to develop, finance, and own an extensive portfolio of solar power assets based in the United States. Cypress manages an operating portfolio of more than 330 MW and has a pipeline in excess of 2 GW.  Cypress Creek is moving rapidly to commission operational ground-mount projects from 2-20 MW in capacity. Cypress has leveraged management experience with over 100 operational projects to create a standardized approach, allowing them to develop at scale with speed and efficiency.

Standardizing on a single monitoring platform is an important element in the Cypress Creek business model. After an extensive industry survey, they have chosen PowerTrack from AlsoEnergy to be the specified monitoring solution for the Cypress Creek portfolio.

“As long-term asset owners, we need a bankable monitoring partner who can deliver robust performance analysis while also easing our administrative workload” says CEO Matthew McGovern. “As developers with an ambitious deployment calendar, we also demand a monitoring partner with a proven track record for on-time fulfilment and responsive support. AlsoEnergy met or exceeded our needs in every detail.”

“We will use AlsoEnergy software to remotely identify, locate, and diagnose performance issues across our growing portfolio. This technology enables us to minimize site visits and reduce costs related to O&M” says McGovern. “Another attractive feature is the AlsoEnergy Workflow Suite, which allows us to track maintenance costs and production losses.”

AlsoEnergy is the monitoring company behind two leading software products:  PowerTrack and DECK Monitoring. “Over the past 2 years AlsoEnergy has focused on product development aimed at the utility-scale market, including a proprietary SCADA site controller” says AlsoEnergy CEO Robert Schaefer. “We are excited to work with Cypress Creek, a major utility-scale developer. The Cypress relationship helps validate our investment in this growing market segment.”

Solar Power World

The latest IHS PV Inverter Customer Insight Survey revealed a growing acceptance of Chinese inverters in the North American market in recent years. To help shed some insight into why more solar contractors are choosing Chinese inverters, we spoke with Ed Heacox of Chint Power Systems. Ed discussed how CPS overcame initial customer hesitation, and grew to have a major market presence in North America.

This custom podcast is sponsored by:

Hear another podcast from Chint here: Why have installers adopted 3-phase string inverters so fast?

Solar Power World

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Antaira Technologies, a global developer and manufacturer of industrial device networking and communication product solutions for harsh environments, has announced its expansion in the industrial networking infrastructure family with the LMX-0802 series.

Antaira’s new industrial managed Ethernet switch line (LMX-0802 series) has been designed to fulfill applications in harsh or outdoor environments. Some applications where the LMX-0802 switch works well in include: power/utility, solar grids, windmills, mining infrastructures, factory/process control automation, ITS – roadway traffic control/monitoring, building facility outdoor infrastructures or security surveillance and access control systems.

Antaira Technologies’ LMX-0802 series is a cost effective 8-port industrial managed Ethernet switch with a 12~48VDC power input range support. Each unit is designed with six 10/100Tx fast Ethernet RJ45 ports, and two 100Fx fiber ports with either an SC or ST connector. The fiber modes that the LMX-0802 series supports include multi-mode, single-mode and WDM. The product series provides high EFT, surge (2,000VDC) and ESD (6,000VDC) protection. It is also built with a dual power input design with reverse polarity protection, and has a built-in relay warning function to alert maintainers when power failures occur. This makes it ideal for applications demanding a high reliability and distance extension.

This product series is pre-loaded with “Layer 2” network management software that supports an ease of use Web Console or Telnet through the serial console by CLI configuration. All Antaira managed switches provide the ring network redundancy function with RSTP and the ITU-G.8032 support, which eliminates the compatibility issue for any existing network concern. In addition, the built-in SNMP, VLAN, IGMP, QoS features support network planners to increase data transmission performance within the network. The external USB2.0 port allows the user to export and save all the configuration settings. Lastly, the flexible “custom label” feature allows networking planners to name each connection port. By naming each port, the networking planners can easily manage remote field devices.

The LMX-0802 series is backed by a five year warranty and the units are IP30 rated, compact, fanless, DIN-Rail and wall mountable. Each series is built to withstand industrial networking hazards like shock, drop, vibration, electromagnetic interference (EMI) and extreme temperatures. There are two operating temperature version models for either standard temperature (-10 ~ 70°C) or extended temperature (-40 ~ 75°C). The models have the dimensions of 54mm (W) x 99mm (D) x 142mm (H) and a unit weight of 2.4 pounds.

Solar Power World

SunGreen Systems, a solar design and construction and smart energy solutions firm, will participate in today’s official ribbon-cutting of the new PV system for Mortech Manufacturing, makers of quality anatomy equipment and instruments for post-mortem facilities. The ribbon-cutting ceremony  marks the culmination of a successful SunGreen Systems design and build project, where SunGreen was able to help Mortech Manufacturing realize substantial savings through a combination of sustainable solar power and LED lighting.

SunGreen Systems designed and installed a premium 183.4 kW solar array for Mortech Manufacturing. The solar system, one of the largest array in Azusa, will offset nearly 100 percent of Mortech’s total building electrical load. As part of the installation, SunGreen working in conjunction with LED Power Saver of Santa Clarita, Calif., also installed LED lighting to replace 900 conventional lamps, resulting in a savings of 50 percent of the lighting energy cost at an estimated annual savings of $19,000 in energy and maintenance costs. In fact, because of the substantial savings from the LED lighting system, SunGreen Systems was able to specify a smaller PV system to meet Mortech’s energy needs at considerable savings.

“This ribbon-cutting marks the completion of a showcase project for SunGreen Systems,” said Rick Hsu, CEO of SunGreen Systems. “The combination of solar power and low-energy LED lighting not only saves energy, it delivers better quality, broader spectrum lighting without glare or discoloration. LED lighting boosts the mood of the Mortech staff at the same time it saves on operational overhead.”

By adopting renewable solar energy and LED lighting, Mortech will eliminate 1,257,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions annually, 4,192 pounds of sulfur dioxide. 2.096 pounds of nitrogen dioxide, and 3,753 grams of mercury from florescent lamps. The positive environmental impact is the equivalent of planting 145 acres of trees or removing 96 automobiles from the roads.

Solar Power World