Hardware brief: ProteaBracket 34% lighter, silicon carbide subcomponents, wtf!! California, and more!
Its the weekend and time to play with your hardware! Q-Cells is launching a 25 year *hardware* warranty for modules manufactured in Georgia, NREL researchers are designing tools to test individual battery cells, plus the EIA solar module report!
A way oversized DC:AC ratio seen in the wild!
Swinerton Renewables & SolarFlex have announced a 26.4 MWac solar project, which public documents show is bigger than 48.6 MWdc – meaning a greater than 1.8:1 DC to AC ratio.
ABB exits solar inverter business
This Swiss giant is following a trend as large multinational high-tech companies see their role as redesigning infrastructure rather than supplying inverters at ever lower margins. Schneider Electric has pulled out of large scale solar, Siemens’ Kaco acquisition and Junelight launch show increasing interest in the C&I and residential markets, and GE is likely to divest its power conversion business due to low profit margins in that sector.
Roth: Huawei exits U.S. solar inverter market
Roth Capital Partners reports that the inverter maker ceased U.S. sales last Friday, laying off all of its U.S. citizen staff, amid rising tensions between the Trump Administration and China.
Ten American-Made Solar Prize ideas get $100,000, go to next round
NREL has announced finalists in its first round of seeking new solar technologies that have significant market potential.
Rapid shutdown gets its first Sunspec certification in Fronius
The Fronius Symo Advanced product line, which had already been NEC 2017 compliant when coupled with a Tigo TS-4, is now also certified for rapid shutdown by the SunSpec Alliance.
PVEL looks at the risky business of inverters
The testing company’s first inverter scorecard found widespread failures of basic tests in UL- and IEC-tested products.
A billion-dollar silicon carbide complex is coming to North Carolina
Cree, which pioneered the innovative semiconductor material, is planning to increase silicon carbide production 30x through a massive investment in a fab and materials megafactory in Durham, North Carolina.
Designing for and monetizing curtailed solar power
Research by NREL and First Solar has produced highly accurate, real-time estimates of available aggregate peak power that a curtailed solar power plant can deliver to support the broader needs of the grid.
