Ideal Power Converters’ solar inverter installed at University of Texas

New PV inverter reduces installation costs and improves safety for commercial-scale rooftop solar systems.

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    Ideal Power Converters (IPC) today announced that seven of their new 30kW photovoltaic (PV) inverters have been installed and are successfully operating at The University of Texas at Austin’s (UT) new 200kW solar system, located on the campus’s Maintenance Facility building.

    “As the costs of solar panels have declined sharply in the past few years, installation costs are becoming the most expensive part of solar PV systems,” said Dr. Michael Webber, Deputy Director of The Center for International Energy and Environment Policy, at UT. “Simplifying the logistics of installation is required to reach cost parity with fossil fuel generation. This new solar system demonstrates how IPC’s light-weight PV inverter significantly reduces installation costs.”

    Because of IPC’s revolutionary patented inverter technology, the 30kW PV inverter weighs only 94lbs (compared to conventional bulky 1,200lbs inverters). The IPC PV inverter delivers 480V AC 3-phase power and supports grounded solar arrays without an internal or external transformer. The disruptive capability of IPC’s 30kW inverter enables a 90 percent weight reduction and more than a 90 percent reduction in magnetic components, significantly reducing installation and shipping costs.

    “Due to the light weight and small size of IPC’s inverters, they were able to be installed on the second story balcony of the UT Maintenance building, which would not have been possible with conventional inverters,” said Paul Bundschuh, Vice President of Business Development for Ideal Power Converters. “This saved UT a significant amount of money on installation costs, as they didn’t have to mount several thousand pounds of conventional inverters outside on a concrete pad. Additionally, the IPC inverter improves safety as the high power electronics can be better protected inside the building.”

    IPC is a recent graduate of the Austin Technology Incubator and received State of Texas Emerging Technology Funds. IPC is manufacturing its solar inverter in volume in Austin, and will create significant clean tech manufacturing employment.

    http://www.idealpowerconverters.com/