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Advanced Energy Sets Industry Record for Solar Inverter Efficiency
Solaron® 500kW PV Inverters Achieve 98 Percent California Energy Commission (CEC) Efficiency Rating; Highest Efficiency to Drive Industry-Best LCOE
FORT COLLINS, Colo., May 11, 2011—Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq: AEIS), today announced that its 500kW Solaron
® PV inverters have achieved a 98 percent efficiency rating from the California Energy Commission (CEC), a record breaking efficiency rating for any inverter in this power class. Advanced Energy also held the previous industry benchmarks of 97 percent and then 97.5 percent. By achieving 98 percent average efficiency without carve-outs for auxiliary power or other adjustments, the company is further distancing its products from competitors in the large commercial and utility-scale solar inverter market.
Inverter efficiency determines the amount of energy converted from a solar array to power that is delivered to the system owner, financier, or utility. Each percentage increase in efficiency leads to additional kilowatt-hours of energy produced, resulting in more cash and RECs generated from a solar PV system. By improving peak energy efficiency to 98.7 percent and weighted efficiency to 98 percent, which is one to three percentage points higher than comparable commercial and utility-scale solar PV inverters, Advanced Energy's new Solaron 500 HE inverters can generate more cash-flow for project developers, owners and financiers.
"Efficiency is a key metric in determining the energy output of a solar PV system, with higher efficiencies possibly leading to a higher internal rate of return for a project owner or investor," said Jim Hines, research director at Gartner. "When properly balanced with cost and long-term reliability, incremental gains in efficiency can lead to a significant improvement in project profitability. Solar project owners, investors and other stakeholders should consider the efficiencies of individual system components when evaluating the levelized cost of electricity production from a PV system."
The CEC is the leading North American agency to review, compile and approve inverters for commercial use. The CEC posts ratings for hundreds of inverters that have been approved by certified testing facilities. Commercial and utility-scale inverters with current CEC ratings can be found at:
http://www.gosolarcalifornia.ca.gov/equipment/inverters.php.
"While many look at efficiency as a technical milestone, this is really a financial and business milestone for the solar PV industry," said Gregg Patterson, executive vice president and general manager Advanced Energy Renewables. "Solar developers and project financiers know that by using Solaron inverters, they can generate a higher financial return from their installations. This benchmark is a testament to our product development team and the collaboration between Advanced Energy and its partners to develop real-world solutions that deliver better LCOE for our customers."
The company's renewables business is driving the adoption of solar by lowering the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for our customers. By providing reliable, easy-to-install Solaron
® and PV Powered™ inverters and SiteGuard
® whole-site O&M services, AE enables utility-scale, commercial, and residential solar project developers to maximize the lifetime value of their power plants. Customers count on AE as a trusted partner leveraging 30 years of innovation leadership and global services infrastructure for optimum project performance. For more information on Advanced Energy's inverter solutions, please visit
www.advanced-energy.com/renewables.
About Advanced EnergyAdvanced Energy (Nasdaq: AEIS) is a global leader in innovative power and control technologies for high-growth, thin-film manufacturing and solar-power generation. Founded in 1981, Advanced Energy is headquartered in Fort Collins, Colorado with dedicated support and service locations around the world. For more information, go to
www.advanced-energy.com.