SatCon Technology Corporation has received a purchase order from New Vision Technologies, an affiliate of Sun Edison LLC, to initially deliver up to 10 megawatts of PowerGate™ photovoltaic inverters through the end of the year.
Sun Edison has photovoltaic projects around the United States already under contract and company officials said the 500kW inverter, recently unveiled by SatCon, is a good fit to meet their demands for high efficiency power conversion.
Sun Edison offers a finance and service model that allows customers to buy and use solar electricity generated at their facilities without capital investment. Sun Edison pays for, installs, owns and operates complete solar installations. Customers of Sun Edison agree to pay a fixed rate, at or below current electricity prices, for the solar electricity generated for at least 10 years.
"We are happy to partner with SatCon on our upcoming projects, as we have been very pleased with the quality and performance of the PowerGate inverter," said Brian Jacolick, chief executive officer of New Vision, Sun Edison's partner. "Any improvements to system components support our larger goal of building more efficient, more cost-effective systems that create value for our customers."
The PowerGate inverter has been recognized by the California Energy Commission for having the highest average efficiencies for any commercial PV inverter on the market. SatCon's inverters are also used in other alternative energy applications, such as wind turbines, plasma-based converter systems, and advanced energy storage applications.
"We are very pleased to have been selected by Sun Edison as their strategic partner for photovoltaic inverters on their upcoming projects," said Millard Firebaugh, SatCon's president and CEO. "The timing of this agreement could not be any better in view of the emerging national consensus emphasizing the importance of solar energy as a contributor to energy independence for the United States."
The PowerGate AE-PV Series inverter is a commercial-grade product available in power ratings from 30kW to 500kW. The PowerGate is a completely integrated package with all electrical and control system components pre-assembled and tested in a common enclosure. This minimizes installation time by reducing field wiring and site testing and reduces the equipment footprint, while improving reliability of the system, SatCon officials said.
SatCon is a developer and manufacturer of electronics and motors for the alternative energy, hybrid-electric vehicle, grid support, high reliability electronics and advanced power technology markets.
