Will Inverters Compete With Storage? Will They Take Over the Grid? (cont)

[kristopher]

Ideal Power Converters: A Disruption in the Inverter Market?
It's still very early for inverter innovator Ideal Power Converters, but this is a startup making some bold claims.


Ideal Power Converters (IPC) is a ten-employee firm located just outside Austin, Texas that's developing a -modulation power converter topology that looks to shrink the size and weight of a solar photovoltaic inverter by 90 percent and reduce shipping and installation costs by 90 percent. The typical 30-kilowatt, 480-VAC commercial-size inverter weighs about 1200 pounds and is mounted on an engineered concrete pad outside the facility where it is sited. In contrast, IPC's 30-kilowatt, 480-VAC inverter weighs 94 pounds and hangs on a wall using two installers. Their inverter can be located in the building or on the roof.

Although the IPC PV inverter is transformer-less, unlike other transformer-less inverters, it supports standard grounded arrays with 600 VDC unipolar systems or +500 to -500 VDC bipolar systems. IPC also claims that their new inverter is more efficient and more reliable than conventional inverters. IPC has eliminated all electrolytic capacitors, a common point of failure in inverters.

I spoke with Paul Bundschuh, IPC's VP of business development, at the Intersolar tradeshow in San Francisco on Monday. The startup has received seed funding from Battery Ventures, funding from the State of Texas Emerging Technology Fund, and is generating revenue from a licensing deal with Lockheed Martin.

The much smaller and lighter transformer-less inverter is in pre-production and still in the certification and field trial process...

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Ideal-Power-Converters-A-Disruption-in-the-Inverter-Market/

[Scruffy1]

1. The technology is amazing.

Now we just need to keep the oil and coal emoire from stopping its use.

[pscot]

2. How would a 30 KW inverter be used?

How large an apartment block of manufacturing site would it serve? I'd like some perspective.

[kristopher]

3. Not sure what you intend to measure with "how large"...

From the article,

The much smaller and lighter transformer-less inverter is in pre-production and still in the certification and field trial process. The firm is looking to go after the large and growing commercial market in the 25-kilowatt to 2-megawatt project size. Bundschuh spoke of the value generated in the commercial sector since the firm's product is essentially "displacing electricity at retail rates rather than at wholesale rates."

I'd think most projects would be things like big box stores, small manufacturing plants, or schools.
Hope that helps.

[pscot]

4. Yes. Thanks

[NYC_SKP]

5. A 30 kW system might serve an 8-unit apartment complex, or 10, or 12.

Depending upon the size of the apartments, the region and amount of sunlight, the efficiency of the construction and appliances, and behaviors of occupants.

Well designed units in sunny southern California, this could serve a 30 unit complex.

:hi: