SPARQ Systems Secures $11 Million to Launch Next-Gen Microinverter
SPARQ Systems, Inc. announced $11 million in funding led by ArcTern Ventures, a venture capital fund that provides early-stage capital to companies in the cleantech sector. A MaRS Cleantech client, SPARQ Systems' technology converts power produced from solar panels into electricity that can be used by the grid. SPARQ System's uQuad is the world's first 4-in-1, 1,000-W residential microinverter that independently optimizes power from up to four solar modules. The uQuad is also the first commercially available 'smart' microinverter, with full reactive power control as well as film capacitors to ensure it lasts as long as the solar modules; 25 years or more.
"This funding will launch our next generation uQuad microinverter, resetting the bar for residential solar systems," said Dr. Praveen Jain, Chairman and Chief Technology Officer of SPARQ and Canadian federal research chair in power electronics. "We saw an opportunity to take a completely different approach in microinverter design using ideas from power electronics, space and telecom fields. The result is the next generation in microinverters."
"We spend a lot of time looking at groundbreaking solar technologies and in SPARQ we saw a truly unique advantage over traditional microinverters," said Murray McCaig, Managing Partner at ArcTern Ventures. "The SPARQ team has done a superb job of translating innovative technology into a better product for solar system installers and home owners."
