Achieving one of the only financial turnarounds in the solar industry’s history, Conergy has implemented the second phase of its corporate reorganization with the relocation of its Americas headquarters from Denver, Colorado, to Miami, Florida. About fifty current and new employees are involved in the shift and the company expects the number of jobs in Miami to increase significantly in the coming year. With this move, the company is revamping its America’s corporate home and culture, as well as unveiling a newly designed website and mission statement created and envisioned by Conergy employees across fifteen countries: “We harness the sun to preserve the planet and power the world.” The mission and values process uncovered Conergy employees’ unanimous passion to create more solar across the world.

“There is no team like Conergy and no place like Miami,” said Conergy CEO Andrew de Pass. “Conergy’s employees are passionate people from all walks of life and corners of the globe. Miami is a unique, embracing melting pot, making it a perfect home for us. Miami is also a convenient geographic hub to support both Conergy’s growing U.S. presence and our emerging markets in Latin America. Furthermore, we have the privilege of being neighbors with our majority shareholder, Kawa Capital Management.”

Phase one of the company’s turnaround leveraged its seventeen years of experience, focusing on its downstream businesses. The company divested from all of its manufacturing and distribution businesses and built upon its strengths in downstream solar services: 1) development; 2) finance; 3) engineering, procurement, construction (EPC); and 4) long-term operations and maintenance (O&M). The company also expanded its rooftop business to align with its market leadership in ground mount, so Conergy now offers turnkey solar services to nearly all market segments globally.

Phase two of Conergy’s turnaround is marked by Conergy’s new three-hub organizational structure and internal technology to make the world feel small and enhance corporate culture. Conergy has established three main hubs for its business: Miami for the Americas; Hamburg, Germany, for Europe and Africa; and Singapore for Conergy’s businesses in Asia, Australia, The Pacific and the Middle East. Through its three-hub structure, enhanced by centralized technology, new processes, and an internal social media platform, employees can easily share ideas and work collaboratively, improving communication and camaraderie across nations.

Conergy’s move will also bring geographic diversification to the U.S. solar industry. The solar industry has experienced 85% job growth since 2010; the growth, however, has been disproportionately concentrated on the West Coast and in the Northeast. Conergy’s move to Miami brings the solar industry to the Southeast corner of the U.S., which, according to the Solar Foundation, is home to less than 10% of the 180,000 nationwide solar jobs.

“We’re pleased that Conergy’s Miami move will also grow Florida’s solar workforce as we relocate many employees to the state and look to hire and train more,” added de Pass.

Phase three of Conergy’s turnaround plan, expected to roll out in Q3 and Q4 of 2015, will be focused on acting out its mission to preserve the planet and power the world. Conergy will implement a comprehensive Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program, a Policy Program to support global Climate Change and local solar-related policies, and campaigns to bring affordable solar power to the global citizens that most need it.

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Amplify Energy today announced that it has commenced business operations at its headquarters in South San Francisco, CA. The new business has been independently spun off from Yingli Green Energy Americas, a partially-owned subsidiary of Yingli Green Energy Holding Company. Yingli is an investor in Amplify Energy, among others.

Amplify Energy helps solar project owners, buyers, and developers to appraise PV project value and optimize production. By using sophisticated performance engineering and its proprietary PVSAT software, the Amplify Energy team goes beyond simple monitoring or maintenance to thoroughly analyze production and weather data. The team determines the extent to which performance is meeting expectations, and quantifies its impact on future revenue potential. In addition to performance analysis, the company offers inspection and testing, and consulting services. Amplify Energy is uniquely positioned to assist customers by providing services at the project site or at its headquarters, which serves as a state-ofthe-art 3rd party test laboratory complete with indoor and outdoor test facilities.

“We started Amplify Energy to address the gap between expected and actual performance,” said Brian Grenko, Chief Executive Officer of Amplify Energy, and former VP of Technology for Yingli Americas. “As the installed fleet of megawattscale PV systems in the U.S. has grown from under 3GW to over 13GW since the end of 2012, so has our understanding of how these systems perform. The reality is that, over time, installed systems have typically performed differently than originally modeled. System owners often lack the quality data and analysis tools needed to capture unrealized production revenue when monitoring system performance, which can amount to millions of dollars of lost savings per year per site.”

“The competencies of Amplify Energy are based on years of research and development efforts at Yingli’s former PV Testing Laboratory,” commented Robert Petrina, Managing Director of Yingli Green Energy Americas. “By gaining an advanced understanding of how PV systems operate in the field, the team is well positioned for success. We thank Brian for his years of service at Yingli.”

For more information on the company, please visit www.amplifyenergy.com.

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Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited is one of the first PV manufacturers to develop a framed utility-scale solar panel designed for a maximum system voltage of 1500 Volts (V). This new product will be displayed at Intersolar North America.

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For the first time in the US, Sonnenbatterie is taking orders for residential and commercial smart energy storage products for distribution through certified channel partners, Sonnenbatterie Centers.

Sonnenbatterie, market leader for smart energy storage systems with offices in Los Angeles, California and Bavaria, Germany, today announced that US versions of the residential and commercial products that have earned the reputation of market leader in Europe are now available for ordering and shipment in the US for the first time. Demos of the new products and applications for channel partners will be available at Intersolar North America, Booth #8121.

Today’s news comes on the heels of recent announcements regarding the company’s new research and development facility in Atlanta, GA, and a non-exclusive North American distribution deal with Sungevity.

“I’m very happy to announce that Sonnenbatterie is officially open for business in North America!” said Boris von Bormann, CEO of Sonnenbatterie USA. “Over the last five years, the name Sonnenbatterie has become synonymous throughout Europe with high quality, beautiful design, and easy-to-use home and commercial energy solutions. We’re delighted to invite American consumers to enjoy the Sonnenbatterie experience for themselves.”

Sonnenbatterie products are now available in North America exclusively through channel partners called Sonnenbatterie Centers. Sonnenbatterie Centers are very often local solar installers that enjoy a certain level of geographic exclusivity, given they meet certain volume requirements. Interested parties can seek an application at the company’s booth at Intersolar North America (Booth #8121).

Sonnenbatterie is the German market leader for lithium storage systems with corporate and manufacturing headquarters in Wildpoldsried, Germany, 90 minutes from Munich. The company has sold over 8,000 units of its intelligent energy storage system to homeowners and businesses since entering the market in 2011.

Coupled with a solar energy system, Sonnenbatterie systems can supply residential owners with 100 percent of their energy needs, in addition to providing backup power for the home and taking advantage of different tariff structures for off-peak vs. on-peak use. For commercial customers, Sonnenbatterie helps reduce demand spikes that lead to peak load charges.

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OutBack Power product manager Mara White

The increased interest in energy storage has put inverter and battery back-up companies like OutBack Power onto center stage. We spoke with product manager Mara White to find out more. 

Solar Power World: How many years has OutBack  been to Intersolar? And what are you planning to show visitors at your booth this year?

Mara White: OutBack has been either attending or exhibiting at the show for as long as Intersolar has been around (2008). Our featured product development is the FlexPower Radian series, which are pre-configured, pre-assembled and pre-wired systems built around our flagship Radian inverter/chargers in 8-kW and 4-kW versions. With the entire system (charge controllers, programmer, networking hub and load center) built onto a back-plane that can be hung on a wall, it’s the quickest path possible to installing and commissioning a custom-quality system while saving valuable on-site installation time. Also, the pre-testing ensures a more trouble-free installation process. We’ll also be showing developments in our OPTICS RE control and monitoring software.

SPW: How has the increased interest in solar storage affected attention on your company?

MW: It pulls us onto center stage because battery back-up has always been in OutBack’s DNA. Everything we do assumes an energy storage component, having come into the grid/hybrid category through our off-grid roots. It’s gratifying to see the microgrid-enabling technologies OutBack sells and supports throughout the developing world becoming the solution for implementing local energy storage in the developed world. We are seeing the same systems that improve quality of life in Pacific Island communities being used in suburban community centers.

FlexPower Radian series from OutBack Power

SPW: Why is it so important for inverters and storage to work together?

MW: For one thing, a storage system needs an inverter/charger to affect storage. But it’s critically important for every system component to work seamlessly and effectively, especially charge controllers because installers know that any problems in the system design are going to show up in the batteries first.

SPW: How can installers choose the best product for them?

MW: Knowledge is power, and that’s certainly the rule when it comes to power conversion. We provide education on a nearly monthly basis with our Certificate Training Program, a comprehensive NABCEP-registered installer school that teaches the theory and practice of storage-based system design and installation. This gives installers the right skills and tools to specify the ideal system for each customer and application.

Visit Mara and the OutBack Power team at Intersolar NA 2015 booth #8117.

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Tabuchi Electric, a solar inverter manufacturer, has entered the North American market with the launch of a residential solar + storage solution at Intersolar North America. The company’s EneTelus Intelligent Battery System (EIBS) is a grid-friendly, inverter and storage system that is easy to install and optimized to deliver compelling energy management and cost performance benefits to solar installers and home owners alike.

“Tabuchi’s heritage of high-quality products gives the solar industry the ability to improve solar and storage cost performance with confidence,” said Harumi McClure, General Manager of Tabuchi Electric of America. “Rather than creating a patchwork of batteries and inverters, we’ve optimized our technology to include everything in one system. Our all-in-one solutions make it much simpler for solar installers to sell and install storage, marking a critical step in reducing intermittency and powering the solar revolution.”

The Tabuchi solar + storage system combines a solar and storage hybrid all-in-one inverter with a lithium ion battery. The system is optimized for reliability and faster payback, as well as simple installation. The solar + storage solution is plug-and-play and comes with a ten-year warranty, backed by Tabuchi’s expertise of nearly a century of high quality electronics. The Tabuchi solution also offers a compelling cost performance, as the battery can reliably reduce peak loads and demand charges for many years.

“Tabuchi Electric is a well-respected player in the global inverter space and the number five solar inverter company in the world,” said Pavel Molchanov, Sr. VP and Equity Research Analyst at Raymond James & Associates. “The company’s move to enter the North American market is a natural extension of its core strengths and signals that the solar-plus-storage industry is ripe for rampant growth.”

In addition to launching the EneTelus Intelligent Battery System (EIBS) for residential homes, Tabuchi will also be offering an inverter for the commercial customer called the EneTelus Mega Value System (EMVAS).

Features of the EIBS include:

• 3 MPPT 5.5kW Solar Inverter
• Bi-directional DC to DC battery converter
• Automatic Transfer Switch
• Battery Charge Controller (Battery Management System)
• 10kWh Lithium Ion Battery Pack

Features of the EMVAS include:

• Individual MPPT DC Input Strings
• 4.2kW input DC/DC Converter × 6 Strings
• 97.3% (Maximum 97.8%) Efficiency
• High efficiency is realized by SiC Power Semiconductor・3 Level Inverter
• Three-phase 480V AC Output

Tabuchi Electric is officially introducing the company’s solar + storage solution to North America at Intersolar North America, booth #8411, in San Francisco from July 13 to July 17, 2015. Mari Gruner, Tabuchi’s product manager, will give a presentation explaining more details of this new offering from Intersolar’s Innovation and Application stage at 2 p.m on Thursday, July 16.

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Locus Energy, a solar monitoring and data analytics platform provider for the distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) market, today announced the launch of PVIQ Excel Datalink, a software tool that provides direct access to performance data within Excel spreadsheets. The new tool allows asset owners and operators to easily analyze large datasets and to help ensure that solar PV assets are performing optimally. Excel Datalink is the newest element of Locus’ PVIQ Suite, a set of optimization tools that provides fleet managers with a much-needed means of evaluating performance of solar PV assets and identifying specific performance drivers.

PVIQ Excel Datalink allows users to automate the analysis and presentation of key performance data directly in Microsoft Excel. By making data queries directly from a spreadsheet workbook, fleet owners and operators can dramatically reduce the time required to prepare periodic performance reports.With PVIQ Excel Datalink, users can draw data from a wide range of performance models, augmenting users’ ability to accurately analyze PV assets.

“With the launch of PVIQ Excel Datalink, customers will be able to significantly reduce the amount of valuable hours used for sifting through and analyzing complex data, as we have now automated that process,” said Michael Herzig, CEO of Locus Energy. “We are excited to offer this very flexible tool, as it will allow users to increase efficiency and reduce costs, as we have seen with one of our key partners, SOLV.”

Locus has been working with SOLV (System Operations Live View), a division of Swinerton Renewable Energy, a solar PV O&M provider that manages utility-scale and commercial fleets, to integrate the PVIQ Excel Datalink and other elements of the PVIQ Suite. Locus Energy’s analytic tools have simplified reporting and managing operations for SOLV, reducing operating costs and increasing production.

Since introducing Locus’ data analytics software one year ago, SOLV has reported saving close to 60 hours per quarter per 20-megawatt plant by using Locus’ customized PVIQ Excel Datalink to help ensure that solar PV assets are working properly. The time-savings have allowed SOLV to devote additional resources to optimizing plant performance and performing preventive maintenance.

In addition to reducing time in the field, PVIQ Excel Datalink has also helped SOLV reduce the number of hours devoted to routine reporting by 40 percent, and the time allotted to the management of performance guarantees by 20 percent.

“Since we have integrated PVIQ Excel Datalink into our systems, our analytics team has been able to easily develop detailed customized reports on a wide range of operating factors,” said George Hershman, VP and Division Manager for Swinerton Renewable Energy. “This has not only significantly reduced the amount of time required to manually compile data, but we are also no longer bound by standard data reports.”

For more information or to observe a demonstration of PVIQ Excel Datalink, visit Locus Energy at booth 8447 at Intersolar North America on July 14 through 16.

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On the tenth anniversary of the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners’ (NABCEP) Entry Level Program, it announces major changes at Intersolar North America. Since 2005, at hundreds of colleges and education facilities, tens of thousands of individuals have completed training based on one of NABCEP’s set of Entry Level Learning Objectives. Its Board of Directors have recently approved changes to the program that helped launch the careers of so many in the industry. The changes will facilitate greater access to the credentials and increased use by employers as a way to identify those who have demonstrated a basic knowledge of fundamental principles and concepts in the application, design, installation and operation of photovoltaic, solar heating or small wind systems.

To best reflect the changes being made, and recognize the achievement of those passing these exams, the NABCEP Entry Level Program is being rebranded the “NABCEP Associate Program.”

The approved changes to will include the addition of an experience-based pathway, where an individual who has at least 6 months of experience working in the PV, solar heating or small wind industry will be eligible to sit for the relevant exam. Those without experience can still qualify to sit for an Associate Exam by completing training through one of the over 250 registered NABCEP Exam Providers. NABCEP Associates will be provided with a logo and wordmark that they can use to recognize their accomplishment, and NABCEP will maintain an online directory where employers or other interested parties can verify the credentials. NABCEP Associates will need to document at least 12 hours of Continuing Education every three years to maintain the credential. Individuals who have previously passed a NABCEP Entry Level Exam will be able to obtain this new designation through a simple registration process.

“NABCEP’s Associate Program will provide those achieving the credential a respected mark of distinction signifying their knowledge of the technology and commitment to safety and quality standards,” said Don Warfield, NABCEP Chair. “As demand for a skilled, clean energy workforce continues to grow, NABCEP Associate credentials will assure employers, consumers and other stakeholders that these individuals have attained a threshold of knowledge enabling them to perform basic services.”

“As NABCEP continues its mission to offer quality credentialing programs for the renewable energy industry, we are pleased to announce the NABCEP Associate Program for those starting their careers in this rapidly growing industry,” said Richard Lawrence, Executive Director “A workforce trained to NABCEP’s competency-based, industry-verified standards enhances consumer confidence, improves quality and expands the use of clean, renewable power.”

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Tracy Aviary introduced this elegant visual statement of renewable energy to educate the public on the benefits of solar power and to provide shade for patrons and birds. The pink solar structures will build awareness about the benefits of solar energy among Tracy Aviary’s 130,000 visitors.

Tracy Aviary, a Salt Lake City nonprofit dedicated to conservation and education, unveiled two new Spotlight Solar structures in its flamingo habitat on Earth Day 2015. The pink sculptural installation, a nod to the flamingos, is the latest and most eye-catching expression of Tracy Aviary’s dedication to environmental conservation, education and solar energy. The installations present solar energy in a striking way, balancing energy production and aesthetics.

“We are proud to be able to introduce this innovative approach to capturing and creating solar energy at Tracy Aviary,” said Tim Brown, executive director of Tracy Aviary. “These solar trees directly align with our conservation and education mission. Thanks to Rocky Mountain Power, Spotlight Solar and Creative Energies, we are able to educate people about solar power in a unique and very visual way.”

Tracy Aviary introduced this elegant visual statement of renewable energy to educate the public on the benefits of solar power and to provide shade for patrons and birds. The pink solar structures will build awareness about the benefits of solar energy among Tracy Aviary’s 130,000 visitors.

The artistic structures feature 24 Lumos LSX frameless solar panels, which are capable of producing up to six kilowatts of electricity. Annually, the installation will generate approximately 9,300 kilowatt hours, enough to supply the yearly electricity usage of an average U.S. home.

The solar trees are Tracy Aviary’s third solar project in five years. The aviary also has LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certified buildings with solar panels on the roofs of its South American Pavilion and visitors center.

“This is the most intriguing application of our solar structures so far: in a flamingo habitat and pink!” said Craig Merrigan, co-founder and CEO of Spotlight Solar. “The reason we created this product is to bring visibility to solar technology, so more people come to understand it and consider clean energy for their own homes and businesses. We are thrilled to partner with Tracy Aviary and Creative Energies to bring solar more visibly into the community of Salt Lake City.”

Merrigan pointed out that solar only makes up one percent of the U.S. energy supply, while recent opinion polls reveal that more than 75 percent of Americans like solar energy and want more of it deployed. Spotlight Solar intends to increase the visibility of solar energy in order to accelerate its adoption. The company has several other distinctive projects in the works, including installations planned at utilities, train stations, a new science museum and prominent universities.

Creative Energies, which installed the structures at Tracy Aviary, was founded with a mission to develop and inspire healthy communities through innovative energy solutions. Mike Walton, a solar project developer with Creative Energies, said the installation at the aviary is a way to accomplish that mission. “Installing Spotlight Solar’s ‘Lift’ structures for Tracy Aviary has provided Creative Energies with a unique opportunity to engage our community in the discussion of solar energy and the limitless ways in which it can be integrated in a facility,” noted Walton.

“Tracy Aviary has always led the flock when it comes to solar energy,” said Alene Bentley, customer and community manager for Rocky Mountain Power, which provided grant funding through its Blue Sky program. “We are grateful for our Blue Sky customers that help build these beautiful solar trees for all the birds and bird lovers who visit here.”

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Cross-sectional TEM of 40-nm Ir(TE)/Ta2O5/TaOx/TaN (BE) RRAM

Imec and Panasonic recently announced that they have fabricated a 40 nm TaOx-based RRAM (resistive RAM) technology with precise filament positioning and high thermal stability. This breakthrough result paves the way to realizing 28nm embedded applications. The results were presented at this year’s VLSI technology symposium (Kyoto, June 15-19 2015).

One of the most promising concepts for scaled memory is RRAM, based on the electronic (current-or voltage-induced) switching of a resistor element material between two metals. Imec and Panasonic developed a method that overcomes filament instability in RRAM, one of the critical parameters that impacts the memory state during read operation in resistive memory.

The method was realized using a combination of process technologies such as low-damage etching, cell side oxidation, and an innovative encapsulated cell structure with an Ir/Ta2O5/TaOx/TaN stacked film structure featuring a filament at the cell center. With these methods, a 2-Mbit 40 nm TaOx-based RRAM cell with precise filament positioning and high thermal stability was achieved. The memory array  showed excellent reliability of 100k cycles and 10 years’ retention at 85° C. Additionally, the filament control and thermal stability technologies offer the potential to realize 28 nm cell sizes.

Gosia Jurczak, director of imec’s research program on RRAM devices stated: “With these breakthrough results, we have proven the potential of this promising memory concept as embedded nonvolatile memory in 28 nm technology node where conventional NOR Flash shows scaling limitations. This result is a confirmation of our leadership position in research and development on resistive memory.”

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Organometal halide perovskites are considered an excellent material for thin-film solar cells as they have shown high conversion efficiencies at cell level.

Nano-electronics research center imec announced at the Imec Technology Forum U.S. a record 11.3% aperture and 11.9% active area efficiency for its thin-film perovskite photovoltaic (PV) module. The efficiency was measured over an aperture area of 16 cm² . This achievement is the best conversion efficiency for perovskite modules in literature.

Organometal halide perovskites are considered an excellent material for thin-film solar cells as they have shown high conversion efficiencies at cell level. While the power conversion efficiency of this new class of thin film solar cells has increased rapidly in the last few years, further improvements are still needed to make thin-film photovoltaics an attractive technology for industrial production. Larger area processing and narrow interconnections are prerequisites for processing efficient thin-film modules.

Imec’s perovskite module achieves a geometrical fill factor of more than 95% and an aperture conversion efficiency of 11.3%. The active area efficiency was demonstrated with 11.9%. These record devices have been fabricated by the conventional lab scale spin coating process. Imec also used a linear coating technique (blade coating) for all the solution based layers, to prove industrially viable fabrication methods. By using this method, the modules achieved a 9% aperture area efficiency. These achievements are important breakthroughs in bringing thin-film solar technology to industrial scalability for applications such as building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV).

“Imec is steadily improving the conversion efficiencies of its perovskite solar cells and at the same time adjusting the fabrication processes to enable industrial adoption of this promising technology,” said Tom Aernouts, R&D manager for thin-film photovoltaics at imec. “Leveraging our expertise in organic photovoltaics enables us to make rapid progress in enhancing the conversion efficiencies, ultimately aiming at conversion efficiencies of more than 20% for this type of thin-film solar cells.”

Imec develops a platform for glass-based perovskite modules and collaborates with Solliance, a cross-border Dutch-German-Flemish thin-film PV research initiative. Thanks to its high power conversion efficiency and stand-alone integration in building elements, both glass-based and thin-film perovskite PV technology are widely considered as important technologies for the BIPV market. Moreover, imec is exploring stacking a perovskite cell on top of a silicon solar cell to increase the conversion efficiency of silicon solar cells. The perovskite cell will capture the light which is not absorbed by silicon, as such enabling conversion efficiencies of more than 3% .

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Women make up a smaller share of the solar workforce than in the overall U.S. economy. Women made up 46.97% of the total U.S. workforce in 2014, but only 21.6% of the solar workforce (mostly in the manufacturing sector), according to The Solar Foundation’s annual job census. While this was more than the previous year (up from 18.7%), the Women in Solar Energy (WISE) association sees women as still largely underrepresented in an industry that is growing 20 times faster than the overall U.S. economy.

As part of its mission to advance women in all aspects of the solar industry, the nonprofit held its first Women in Solar Breakfast at Intersolar NA 2015, sponsored by Sol Systems and Stion.

“Women’s minority status is especially felt at industry conferences,” said Sara Rafalson, Senior Associate at solar energy finance and investment firm Sol Systems, and volunteer president of WISE. “We have done events at Solar Power International, PV America and GTM conferences, and decided to host the breakfast at Intersolar to provide a place for women to gather, make connections and raise awareness around diversity in the solar workforce at one of the industry’s largest trade shows.”

Breakfast attendees had the opportunity to learn from women who spoke on how they built successful careers in solar. The breakfast also included discussions on how women can succeed in the workplace such as by bridging the confidence gap, balancing work and home life and focusing on what skills you need to progress in your career.

Rafalson delivered opening remarks. Others spoke on a panel including:

•   Helen Kang Shin, Vice President & Associate General Counsel, Recurrent Energy
•   Tammie Candelario, Head of Department, Solar Services, DNV GL
•   Anna Bautista, VP Construction & Workforce Development, GRID Alternatives
•   Moderator – Page Crahan, President, Clarus Power

Women in Solar Energy is the solar industry’s only 501(c)3 nonprofit membership organization singularly focused on the recruitment, advancement, and retention of women in the solar energy industry. WISE accomplishes this through core programs focused on workforce development, mentorship, networking events, as well as SheSpeaks Solar, its initiative to increase speaking opportunities for women on technical panels at solar industry trade shows.

While large industry conferences are a great way for women to connect, Rafalson also notes various ways to become involved in WISE year-round as a member. For example, members can participate in a mentorship program, and training through the association’s partnerships with Solar Energy International, the North Carolina Clean Technology Center and NABCEP.

“We hope that the breakfast attendees like what they see, become involved, and ask their companies to support WISE, either as a corporate sponsor or by helping us put on another one of these events.”

Rafalson said the Intersolar event team was extremely supportive and helpful and so hopes to make the breakfast an annual conference event. WISE also is also in discussions with Solar Energy Trade Shows to host a breakfast at Solar Power International this September in Anaheim, California.

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Solectria – A Yaskawa Company announced at Intersolar North America today that it is delivering 32.5MW of its PVI 20TL and PVI 28TL three-phase transformerless inverters to Safari Energy for a nationwide rollout of PV projects for several large national landlords.

Safari Energy, a nationwide solar developer, selected a distributed method for these PV systems for many reasons, including reduced upfront and long-term costs and increased energy production. The redundancy provided by multiple inverters will preserve system uptime and protect profits.

“Safari Energy is a leader in solar development for large commercial real estate owners and national real estate investment trusts (REITs), so we hold our suppliers to an extremely high standard,” said Matt Rudey, CEO of Safari Energy. He continued, “We elected to deploy Solectria inverters across this high-profile portfolio because of their inverters’ performance and the overall value and bankability their company offers. We look forward to partnering with Solectria in the future.”

Phil Vyhanek, President of Solectria – A Yaskawa Company, added: “We are thrilled at the opportunity to work with Safari Energy on this exciting commercial solar roll-out. In today’s landscape, we know that our customers hold their inverter partners to a high standard in order to achieve maximum payback on their PV investments. Solectria meets these demands by offering customers proven solutions across our product portfolio. Our three-phase string inverters are a natural fit for Safari Energy’s projects and we appreciate their trust and commitment to Solectria.”

Each mall included in this portfolio will be commissioned by the end of 2015. Together, they are anticipated to generate over 1 billion kWh, enough to power almost 100,000 residential homes and remove 700,000 metric tons of CO2 from the earth’s atmosphere. This is the environmental equivalent of about 750 million pounds of coal burned, 79 million gallons of gasoline consumed and 1.6 million barrels of oil consumed.

To see and learn more about Solectria’s three-phase transformerless inverters, please visit them in booth 8311 at Intersolar North America in San Francisco, California, July 14-16, 2015. Solectria will also host Meeting NEC 2014 Code Compliance – Installer Challenges and Inverter Solutions training on Wednesday, July 15th, from 3-5pm.

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Ampt LLC, a leader in power conversion technology for solar power plant optimization, today announced $20 million in Series C funding and $5 million in working capital to support continued growth. The funding will be used to expand production and accelerate global sales and partnership activities, as well as to support ongoing product innovation.

The funding round was led by Bohemian Investments – a prominent investment firm named 2014 Investor of the Year by the Colorado Cleantech Industries Association. Existing strategic investor and co-founder of Ampt, Doug Schatz, also participated in the round through the Schatz Family Trust.

Ampt’s flagship product is a String DC Optimizer used in commercial and utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) systems. Ampt optimized systems are distinguished from other solutions by uniquely delivering a true spend-less-get-more value proposition. Ampt optimizers lower the day-one cost of PV systems while increasing performance.

“Ampt is in one of the fastest-growing categories in solar,” said Joseph Zimlich, CEO at Bohemian Investments. “Their differentiated products, strong intellectual property and deep global partnerships are driving Ampt’s growth, and we are pleased to support their long-term success.”

“Our customers are under increasing pressure to lower costs, and Ampt’s technology unlocks significant savings in even the most competitive solar markets,” said Levent Gun, CEO at Ampt. “This round of funding will accelerate our business to meet that opportunity globally. We are delighted to have Bohemian Investments alongside our founding investors to help fuel that expansion.”

Ampt String Optimizers feature Ampt’s patented String Stretch and Ampt Mode technologies, as well as multiple MPP trackers per string to maximize energy production. String Stretch allows PV designers to save up to 50 percent on electrical balance-of-systems costs, while Ampt Mode enables up to 50 percent savings in a PV inverter cost per watt. Ampt optimized systems have a lower total system cost than traditional 1000 volt PV system designs, and deliver more value than even emerging 1500 volt designs.

Ampt is a founding member of the HDPV Alliance – an industry-wide initiative to lower the cost and improve the performance of large-scale PV systems using DC power optimizers. HDPV, or High Definition PV, uses defined standards, tested compatibility and shared best practices to enable members across the PV value chain to deliver products and services that optimize PV systems.

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Both the crystalline silicon (c-Si) and thin-film camps preached an increased focus on innovation and improvements in efficiency during two separate conference sessions at Intersolar North America 2015.

The SunShot Initiative’s plan for lower solar electricity cost.

Rebecca Jones-Albertus, program manager for PV R&D for the U.S. Department of Energy, spoke of DOE’s SunShot Initiative and its support of projects that improve efficiency and overcome technological barriers in solar cell materials. DOE has supported more than 50% of the world’s records in panel efficiency.

“We’d have to have 40% efficiency [of c-Si panels] and no other increase in price to reach 6 cents per kilowatt hour,” she said. “We have to work on reliability and durability.”

Jones-Albertus spoke during the “Crystalline silicon PV: The global workhorse can perform even better” session, stating that the SunShot Initiative has begun to shift focus to the overall module—not just the cell—to find areas of improvement in the frame, backsheet, ribbons, etc. Continuing to improve c-Si modules can only assert their dominance in the industry.

This unquestionable global dominance is mostly thanks to China, said Brad Mattson, CEO of Siva Power, during the “Thin-film PV: A bright future ahead” session.

“China created the modern day solar industry,” Mattson said. “They took polysilicon and built a thousand lines. Thin-film had little infrastructure at the time, but First Solar has proved there’s a lot of merit.”

With First Solar’s focus on improving the efficiency of cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film panels (which just this month reached 18.6% module efficiency), along with an industry-wide concentration on “technology scaling,” Mattson said the United States could control thin-film manufacturing.

“China is committed to silicon, but thin-film expertise resides in the United States,” Mattson said. “Solar panels can be made in California cheaper and better than in China.”

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S&C Electric Company and Lodestar Energy, a leading developer of renewable energy projects focused on solar-photovoltaic (PV) technology, have reached agreements to build nearly 2 MW of additional solar PV plants in Massachusetts. The companies’ combined five solar projects are projected to bring nearly 12 MW of distributed energy resources to the commonwealth, enough solar energy to power roughly 2,000 homes.

Massachusetts has been among the most active states in solar PV, ranking fourth in the country in 2014 with 308.2 MW of solar-electricity capacity, enough to power 50,000 homes, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. S&C and Lodestar are helping Massachusetts reach its goal of 1.6 GW of solar energy by 2020 by constructing highly efficient solar plants, built on time and within tight budget constraints.

“We’ve worked closely with Lodestar to develop solar projects in a variety of sizes,” says Dan Girard, director—Business Development, Renewable Energy, and Energy Storage, S&C. “Our significant industry experience allows us to develop and build solar-PV plants with increased efficiency and standardization.”

“S&C have brought their strong engineering, utility experience, and history of innovation,” says Jaime A. Smith, Principal and Managing Member of Lodestar Energy LLC. “They have demonstrated their flexibility and problem-solving across a number of complex solar projects, and we are excited to continue this relationship.”

For the two newest projects, S&C will provide engineering, procurement, and construction services for the complete construction of a 1.2-MW solar-PV plant in Carver, Mass., and a 650-kW solar-PV plant in Cheshire, Mass. Once construction of both plants is complete, they will provide enough combined renewable energy to power nearly 300 homes.

S&C previously worked with Lodestar to construct a now-completed 4.1-MW solar plant in Bridgewater, Mass. The companies also expect comparable projects, including the 3-MW Curtis Hill and Depot Hill plant projects in Charlton, Mass. to be completed by the end of 2015. In all five joint ventures, S&C is supplying Lodestar with both AC and DC engineering.

“S&C has been an outstanding partner,” says Jeffrey J. Macel, a Principal and Managing Member of Lodestar Energy. “They have been a pleasure to work with and have gone the extra mile to deliver fully constructed projects on time, and on budget.”

Additionally for each of the five projects, S&C is providing its Vista® Underground Distribution Switchgear units along with interconnectivity to National Grid and Eversource, the local utilities. Vista Underground Distribution Switchgear provides switching and protection through 38 kV, with its key features designed to minimize the interconnection costs of a solar farm. The two latest projects will bring the number of S&C Vista switchgear units deployed at solar power plants throughout Massachusetts to 32.

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Itron announced that Sunrun, the largest dedicated residential solar company in the U.S., has expanded its relationship with Itron to further enhance solar monitoring capabilities for its customers. Sunrun will utilize Itron Total Solar, a complete offering that combines production measurement and managed services for solar photovoltaic (PV) generation. The offering provides accurate, reliable measurement and monitoring of solar production for home solar installations.

“Sunrun has used Itron’s solar monitoring services for several years to provide accurate and reliable home solar monitoring to our customers,” said Steve Kent, vice president of service delivery at Sunrun. “With Itron Total Solar, we have greater flexibility and convenience that will help us create an even better customer experience. Itron has been a supportive and collaborative partner to Sunrun and we look forward to continuing our work together.”

With Itron Total Solar, Itron’s services team will run, manage and maintain Itron’s solar offering for Sunrun, including the collection, storage and validation of solar PV production data via a reliable and secure 4G LTE cellular network. The production data and analytics services will be made available to Sunrun through a secure, cloud-based infrastructure and easy-to-use API-based interface.

“With Itron Total Solar, our experienced team will manage all aspects of Sunrun’s day-to-day system operations to offload the burden of maintenance tasks and provide greater flexibility, cost optimization and accelerated time-to-value,” said Lou Gust, Itron vice president of sales and marketing for electricity in North America. “We are excited to expand our work with Sunrun, helping them optimize the management of energy resources so they can better serve their customers.”

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Phoenix Contact’s newest versions of the FL mGuard combine the mGuard’s secure routing, VPN, and firewall functions with network switch capabilities, in one package. The RS2005 has five unmanaged Ethernet ports, and the RS4004 has four managed ports, along with a “demilitarized zone” (DMZ) port to secure multiple networks.

Thanks to the integrated switch, the updated mGuard devices can eliminate or reduce the need to buy and install a stand-alone switch. This results in lower hardware costs, a smaller installation footprint, and easier network set-up.

The RS4004 integrates a four-port managed switch, enabling a flexible and cost-effective option for multiport security applications in Ethernet networks. The mGuard with a managed switch can provide port mirroring, multicast filtering, and querier and VLAN support.

The DMZ port in the RS4004 is a protected network located between two other networks. Both the secure LAN side and the unsecured WAN side of the network can access this port. However, the firewall that monitors and regulates all of the incoming and outgoing traffic at each transfer point can block access from the WAN side to the LAN or DMZ side and vice-versa.

The RS2005 integrates a five-port unmanaged Ethernet switch, with automatic detection of data-transmission speed of 10 or 100 Mbps (RJ45) and auto-crossing function.

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Thousands of visitors packed San Francisco’sMoscone Center West today for the opening of the Intersolar North America exhibition, the most-attended solar industry event dedicated to the North American market. During a special ceremony on the exhibition floor, winners were named in the fourth annual Intersolar AWARD for Projects inNorth America. The ceremony also honored former California Assemblyperson Nancy Skinner with the Champion of Change AWARD, which is presented in conjunction with the California Solar Energy Industries Association (CALSEIA) to an individual who demonstrated an outstanding commitment to supporting renewable energy at the national and international levels.

The Intersolar AWARD, now in its eighth year, promotes the industry’s power to innovate. The AWARD ceremony at Intersolar North America brings together Intersolar exhibitors, representatives and decision-makers from the international solar industry.

The winners of the “Solar Projects in North America” category were selected by an independent committee of industry experts and trade press, and were chosen from a pool of nine finalists. Since 2012, this category recognizes landmark projects that exemplify a high degree of technological innovation, uniqueness, economic feasibility and benefit to the environment and society. The three winners were: OutBack Power’s GridZero System at the Haliburton Soap Factory; Solar Frontier’s Catalina Project; and tenKsolar’s installation at the Daughters of the American Revolution’s Constitution Hall.

• OutBack Power won the AWARD for its GridZero System at the Haliburton Soap Factory inOntario, Canada, an ingenious power management solution that demonstrates how solar energy and energy independence can work in small towns for people on fixed incomes. In absence of net metering, this project resulted in a 50-percent reduction in utility costs, and showed the viability of solar in areas where the rate structure would not otherwise support solar power.
• Solar Frontier utilized unique technology, streamlined installation processes and a solar-wind hybrid collaboration to develop the 82.5 MWp Catalina Project in the Mojave Desert. The project represents their largest application of CIS technology, and is an important demonstration of the technology at scale. In addition to boosting the amount of solar energy on the grid, this project also contributes to meeting new environmental mandates for improving overall air quality and will produce enough energy to power 35,000 households.
• tenKsolar developed an innovative solution to design a solar system when faced with architectural and spatial challenges at the Daughters of the American Revolution’sConstitution Hall. This project faced numerous regulatory, structural and other challenges, due in part to the building’s designation as a national historic landmark. The jury was impressed by the resourcefulness of the contractor, and demonstrates the potential solar has to contribute to the energy mix in imperfect settings.

Assemblyperson Skinner Applauded for Energy Storage, Net Metering Policy Efforts

Former California Assemblyperson Nancy Skinner was honored with the Champion of Change AWARD for her decades-long dedication to developing renewable and solar energy. Since the 1980s, Ms. Skinner has worked on global warming and environmental policy, and her commitment and hard work have been instrumental in passing several critical pieces of legislation, such as AB 510, California’s highly successful net metering law, and AB 2514, which increased the amount of energy storage installed in the state.

For the first time, the results from an online public vote helped select the winner of the Champion of Change AWARD from a pool of three finalists.

View details of all the finalists for the project awards here.

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