Fronius International and Obvius Holdings have formed a strategic partnership for the development of a monitoring solution that provides “plug-and-play integration.” Fronius’ IG Plus and CL inverters are now supported by Obvius’ AcquiSuite, AcquiSuite EMB and AcquiLite EMB.
Enecsys advised that it has partnered with Ember for the company’s wireless ZigBee communications, which will be incorporated into Enecsys microinverters so that households and business can better monitor and improve their systems’ performance. The ZigBee system-on-chip (SoC) and ZigBee PRO software have been added to Enecsys’ SMI microinverter series and should allow for real-time and historical data to be populated for its users.
In 2010, pvXchange traded nearly 185MW of solar modules and 85MW of inverters working with over 300 suppliers and 2,500 active buyers for the European market. The company is now looking to make headway in the North American market with the opening of its new US headquarters in San Francisco, which is supplemented with pvXchange’s presence in New Jersey and Ontario, Canada as well.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, along with Bureau Veritas, have evaluated and certified that Sputnik Engineering’s SolarMax 330TS-SV solar inverter has met the requirements for a compliance certificate from the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW). The certificate requires that all newly commissioned grid-coupled inverters with a direct medium-voltage connection in Germany adhere to the “Generator plants on the medium-voltage network” directive by BDEW.
US-based inverter manufacturer Solectria Renewables has delivered four 266kW SGI 266 smartgrid inverters to BlueChip Energy for what will be the largest PV rooftop installation in Florida. The inverters will power the first 1.5MW stage of the 10MW Rinehart Solar Farm project located in Lake Mary, Florida.
Solar inverter manufacturer KACO new energy has made inroads into the US market with the signing of a US manufacturing partnership with manufacturing solutions company Sanmina-SCI. The partnership will see Sanmina provide end-to-end manufacturing services for its blueplanet 02xi inverter series with the intention of reducing manufacturing costs and overall delivery times.
Power-One and Solar Topps recently signed a supply deal, which will see Power-One provide 2MW of its solar PV inverters to Solar Topps. In addition to Schott’s American-made panels, Power-One’s Phoenix, Arizona manufactured inverters will allow Solar Topps to offer its customers a “made in America” solar power array.
KLNE has increased its manufacturing capacity in China by opening a new facility and research and development centre in Changzhou. The 100-acre site was officially unveiled on June 29 at a ceremony attended by the company’s sales director, Wison Qi, and marketing director, Paul Nicholson, as well as dignitaries from the Changzhou local government and staff representing the Wujin Economic Development Zone.
Just one small euro million below the half-billion euro mark was reported by Fronius for revenue in 2010. The Austrian inverter manufacturer grew sales by 52%, compared with the previous year. Although sales in the PV inverter segment were not given separately, 2010 was characterised as a record year for inverter sales by market research firms.
Former managing board member Scott Landstrom has been selected by the Direct Grid Technologies board as the company’s new CEO. Guy Ward, the previous Direct Grid CEO, will take on the role of executive chairman. A 25-year veteran of senior executive leadership, Landstrom previously worked at Lam Research as the VP of global field operations with prior executive experience coming from his time as president of Volex.
