PVP30kW Commercial Inverter
Offers Significant Enhancements

In keeping with our commitment to continuous improvement, PV Powered has added new capabilities to the PVP30kW commercial inverter, improving compatibility, easing installation, and increasing energy harvest.

• Expanded Voltage Range:  Industry-leading 295 VDC low voltage input enables exceptional stringing capability with all PV modules on the market today including the new thin film modules.
• New Cabinet Features:  Added back panel power knockout, a dedicated data line knockout and a locking power electronics lid to make what was already the industry’s easiest to install commercial inverter even easier.
• Increased Energy Harvest: A refined power point tracking algorithm identifies the optimal power point more quickly and accurately, boosting daily energy harvest under all operating conditions.

PV Powered is now taking orders now for January shipments of the PVP30kW inverters that include these new features.  Lean, U.S-based manufacturing allows PV Powered to supply PVP30kW units with only a 3-week lead time while seamlessly integrating these new features and accommodating increasing order volumes.

 

 

 

Meet Mr. Reliability

PV Powered has recently expanded our commitment to design, build, and support the most reliable solar inverters in the industry with the addition of Michael Fife, Ph.D. As Director of Reliability, Dr. Fife brings more than twelve years of experience in technology development and failure analysis, including working on solar projects for NASA and the U.S. Air Force and will be instrumental in PV Powered’s program to deliver the first inverter with a 20-year operating life.

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Mission: Reliability

At PV Powered, reliability isn’t just a buzzword, it’s our mission. We have long been committed to creating the industry’s most reliable solar power inverter solutions and that’s why we don’t design our products like anyone else.

PV Powered starts building reliable products with a simple, elegant design that minimizes failure points by having a fraction of the number of components used in competing products. Complex functionality is achieved through high levels of integration and scalable firmware that also allow lessons learned from installations of any model to quickly be integrated into all products throughout the line. Our focus on reliability also involves searching around the world for the very best components from suppliers who leverage their expertise and have their own reliability programs.

Many inverter manufacturers, including PV Powered, tout the quality of their products, and quality is certainly important. But quality and reliability are NOT the same thing. You can easily have a quality product that is built exactly to its specifications that fails within a short period of time because the underlying design is not reliable. Creating reliable products requires a systematic approach to design that examines every component and connection, understands how it works, and then re-engineers the design to eliminate potential fault areas. Our reliability, engineering, and manufacturing teams are constantly testing, refining, and integrating proven technologies into our products to ensure they’ll be harvesting the power of the sun long after competing products have been replaced.

Finally, our commitment to reliability continues long after each product is manufactured and sold. Not only do we ensure reliability by providing comprehensive on-going support to installers, but by continually feeding back user experience into product designs. Any failure is thoroughly understood, the root cause identified and eliminated.

Maximizing your profits as an installer and maximizing the user’s energy harvest requires an inverter you can count on to be up and running for the long haul. PV Powered is committed to the ensuring our systems provide a long-term solar energy solution for our customers. This promise of reliability extends from the earliest stages of development and innovation, through long-term support of installed product, and an industry-leading 10-year comprehensive nationwide warranty. PV Powered truly is “Simply More Reliable Solar”.

Customer Profile: RTI – A Story of Renewal

In the middle of the night on August 10, 2007, a fire quickly spread from an adjacent business to the property of Renewable Technologies, Inc. (RTI). The RTI facility, located in the town of Sutter Creek, near Sacramento, California, was completely destroyed by the fire.

One of the first calls owner Darryl Conklin made the morning after the fire was to the PV Powered Technical Services and Support team. He calmly reported he had lost everything: decades of personal effects; over 14 years worth of records for the business; all the assets accumulated over that time to run a successful renewable energy installation company; and one of the first-produced PV Powered PVP30kW commercial solar inverters. The PVM1010 data monitoring unit inside of the inverter confirmed his story: at approximately 11:59 pm the inverter seemingly disappeared and ceased to report.

Conklin tried to explain the aftermath, “Every day my staff and I remember one more thing we add to the list of irreplaceable property. Not until you go to look for it do you realize that it is gone, and the reality of this catastrophe strikes again.”

The PVP30kW unit had been temporarily installed at the RTI building prior to its planned permanent installation at Vino Farms, a local winery and RTI customer, later that month. The moment the fire struck the inverter, Conklin knew he would have to postpone the installation.

During the first week of November, the Vino Farms solar installation finally commenced, albeit three months late. Conklin credits PV Powered’s Technical Services and Support team with seamlessly delivering a replacement unit within weeks of the fire. “PV Powered’s team was fantastic in response, genuinely concerned about the welfare of RTI, the staff, and equipment. The whole PV Powered team stepped up, jumped in, and made it happen with a tremendous outpouring of quick responses and support.”

Unfortunately this story is all too familiar as California experienced extensive fires in many areas this fall. The remarkable aspect of RTI’s story is that, with the help of PV Powered, they continue to deliver to their customers. Darryl reflects, “Our relationship with PV Powered is more than that of a vendor and a customer, they genuinely care.”

Growing PV Market in Agriculture
PV Powered’s Innovative No-Neutral inverters

As a solar installer it is increasingly more common to find delta transformers with 240volt three-phase and a 208 volt “wild-leg” in certain agricultural or industrial settings.

These specialty type transformers are increasingly difficult to pair with a compatible solar inverter due to the recent UL1741 revision, which went into effect May 7, 2007. The new standard added the requirement of an AC line-to-neutral measurement which replaced the older line-to-line voltage measurement. The difficulty in connecting grid tied solar inverters to these unbalanced specialty transformers is due to the line to neutral measurement now required. 

Historically, as long as the line-to-line voltage was within the UL tolerance limit (±10%) the inverter could function as intended. However, with the adoption of the new standard each individual line-to-neutral voltage must be monitored and although the line-to-line voltage may still meet specifications, the line-to-neutral voltages may not. Consequently, solar inverters which require a separate neutral to be pulled will not function. Delta transformers with a high leg, commonly called a wild leg or stinger, DO NOT have equal distribution voltage values when referenced to the neutral.  For example, the voltage between two of the legs and neutral is 120, and the voltage between the final leg and neutral is 208 volts.  

 PV Powered manufactures the only solar inverter that does not require a neutral wire. Due to our uniquely-designed, no-neutral line inverters it is now much easier to pair one of our products with specialty-grounded transformers and take advantage of the growing market in agricultural applications.