Xantrex Technology Inc. has been awarded US$873,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) under its Photovoltaics Manufacturing Research and Development Initiative. Xantrex will match the funding from NREL during the course of the project for a total budget of $1.74 million. This program will take place at the Xantrex facility in Livermore, California.
The NREL project is titled "Advanced, High-Reliability, System-Integrated 500 kW Photovoltaic (PV) Inverter Development." This significant funding will be used to develop Xantrex's next generation state-of-the-art optimized technology that will result in a new product line of commercial and industrial scale photovoltaic inverters.
"The recognition from NREL through this award is an honor because it acknowledges the important work we are doing in this area," said Mossadiq Umedaly, Chairman of Xantrex. "This will have a significant positive impact on Xantrex because with this U.S. Department of Energy support we can increase our investment in the development of the next generation commercial and industrial photovoltaic inverter products."
Xantrex currently offers utility-interactive, three-phase inverters ranging from 10 kW to 225 kW, and multiple inverters can be paralleled for larger power installations. The company anticipates the new product advancements made as a result of this funding will provide higher reliability, increased efficiency, greater communication capabilities, and reduced system cost for owners and installers through greater integration.
