JAN 25

Inverters are used not only in solar panel installations but also for wind turbines and other sustainable power generating systems that generate DC power. The inverter converts the power from DC to AC so that it can be used in standard household circuits. (Some homes, mostly completely off-the-grid cabins and the like, do not convert the power to AC, and are equipped entirely with lights, appliances and equipment that works directly off DC current, but those are a tiny minority).

A new inverter developed by engineers at the Fraunhofer Institute achieved an efficiency rating of 98.5 percent. The more efficient the inverter, the less energy is lost in the conversion.

"Fraunhofer researchers succeeded in reducing the power dissipation of conventional inverters by 30 to 50 percent when compared with results obtained with traditional silicon-based transistors."

So, while increasing the efficiency of the photovoltaic material itself is probably the more exciting direction for improving efficiency, inverters that lose less of the energy as it is usefully delivered are also a development that will help.

via: Solar News Archive

Comments (8)

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As the hub of almost all alternative pow
written by weee, January 25, 2008

this improvement by Fraunhofer will make a profound effect on the viability of many solar and wind installations - great news.

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written by jello5929, January 25, 2008

Math isn't on your side here. This is going to make 1.5% cheaper solar - not 30%.

Power consumption of the inverter was reduced by 50% to make the efficiency 98.5%. That means that the new inverter consumes 1.5% of the electricity. And the old inverter consumed 3% of the electricty at 97% efficient.

So now you get 1.5% more energy from your panels. That's a definite improvement, but it's not a profound change in the solar economics.

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oops
written by dyea, January 25, 2008

Phil, you have made me so angry right now i tinkled a little. No smiley for you. Don't architects speak the math? teh barassing

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and
written by dyea, January 25, 2008

if you rtfa it says right there "efficiency rating of a three-phase inverter raised from 95.1 to 97.5 percent"

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please correct the title
written by Mark Bartosik, January 27, 2008

The title is just so plane wrong it reduces credibility of this site.

I think that my inverters are about 96% or 96.5% efficient, and that's not unusual when operating at the sweet spot. So some company had slightly less efficient inverters and made a new model slightly more efficient.

If inverters wasted 30% of the power they would glow red with heat!

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written by Bobby, January 27, 2008

Read on another site - the inverter costs 0 less, as well as lasting much longer than traditional ones.

http://nextenergynews.com/news1/next-energy-news1.23a.html

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Not so profound then!
written by weee, January 27, 2008

Yep I think it might be a good idea to change the title to - Record Efficiency Solar Inverter Could Mean 2.5% Cheaper Solar - don't get me wrong it's still good news... it just isn't great news!

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written by P Proefrock, January 31, 2008

Hey everyone, thanks for pointing out the error in the headline. Architects do speak teh math (a little bit, anyhow) but they don't always communicate it clearly, and they get their headlines rewritten sometimes.

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