Monday, 02 February 2009
As you may have learned from our website, or from elsewhere, solar PV panels generate direct electrical current — or direct current (DC). In order to be useful, this DC has to be converted into AC, or alternating current. The DC power from each panel is conducted through a combiner box, and then on to an inverter, where it’s transformed into the AC electricity we need to run our toasters and computers and washing machines and everything else.
It seems the smart people at Akeena Solar and Enphase Energy have come up with a viable way to make this DC-AC inversion closer to the source. Using microinverter technology developed by Enphase, the two companies
have announced a strategic partnership to develop and market Andalay solar panel systems with ordinary AC house current output instead of high voltage DC output. Andalay AC panels are expected to cost less to install and provide higher performance than ordinary DC panels….
Akeena estimates that up to 25 percent of the total costs necessary to design and install a solar power system can be eliminated with solar panels that have integrated racking, wiring and grounding — and that operate with standard AC wiring. Moreover, according to Enphase research, panels outfitted with Enphase microinverters boost solar energy collection by 5 to 25 percent. As a result, systems using Andalay AC solar panels will be less expensive to design and install, and have the potential to provide higher efficiency and better long-term performance for both residential and commercial customers.
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