SolarEdge
Encyclopedia
SolarEdge is a provider of power optimizer
, solar inverter and monitoring solutions for photovoltaic arrays. These products aim to increase energy output through module-level MPPT. Established in 2006, the company has offices in the United States
, Germany
, Italy
, Japan
, and Israel
.
The company is venture capital
backed and investors include GE
Energy Financial Services, Lightspeed Venture Partners
, ORR Partners, Genesis Partners
, Walden International, Vertex Venture Capital, JP Asia Capital and Opus Capital Ventures.
At the end of 2009, the company started mass production of its products by electronic manufacturing services provider Flextronics International Ltd.
In 2010, the company shipped an estimated 250,000 power optimizers and 12,000 inverters – amounting to a total generation of 50 megawatts and 70% of the power optimizers market.
As a result, potential power may be lost whenever a mismatch exists between modules.[2][3]* Panel mismatch is unavoidable in many cases, due to panel manufacturing tolerance, partial shading,[4] uneven soiling, or uneven tilt angle. In addition, power may also be lost due to slow tracking of dynamic weather conditions caused by moving clouds,[5] and on extremely hot or cold days when the system DC voltage may exceed the inverter’s permissible input voltage range*. Other drawbacks of traditional PV systems include:
To address the issue of PV safety, the SolarEdge system contains an automatic SafeDC™ mechanism which shuts off DC voltage on the panels whenever the inverter or the grid power is disconnected.
The company offers single-phase inverters with a rated AC power output of between 3,000 to 6,000 watts*, as well as three-phase inverters with a rated AC power output ranging between 7,000 to 12,500 watts*.
Power optimizer
A power optimizer is a DC to DC converter technology developed to maximize the energy harvest from solar photovoltaic or wind turbine systems. They do this by individually tuning the performance of the panel or wind turbine through maximum power point tracking, and optionally tuning the output to...
, solar inverter and monitoring solutions for photovoltaic arrays. These products aim to increase energy output through module-level MPPT. Established in 2006, the company has offices in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, and Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
.
History
SolarEdge was established in 2006 by Guy Sella, CEO and Chairman, Lior Handelsman, VP of Product Strategy & Business Development, Yoav Galin, VP of R&D, Meir Adest, VP of Core Technologies and Amir Fishelov, Chief Software ArchitectThe company is venture capital
Venture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
backed and investors include GE
Gê
Gê are the people who spoke Ge languages of the northern South American Caribbean coast and Brazil. In Brazil the Gê were found in Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Bahia, Piaui, Mato Grosso, Goias, Tocantins, Maranhão, and as far south as Paraguay....
Energy Financial Services, Lightspeed Venture Partners
Lightspeed Venture Partners
Lightspeed Venture Partners is a venture capital firm focusing on early stage investments in IT companies.The firm is based in Menlo Park, California and has raised approximately $2 billion of investor capital since inception across eight venture funds....
, ORR Partners, Genesis Partners
Genesis Partners
Genesis Partners is a venture capital firm that focuses on early stage investments in innovation driven companies serving markets that include enterprises, financial services, communications, consumer and consumers electronics, digital media, and energy...
, Walden International, Vertex Venture Capital, JP Asia Capital and Opus Capital Ventures.
At the end of 2009, the company started mass production of its products by electronic manufacturing services provider Flextronics International Ltd.
In 2010, the company shipped an estimated 250,000 power optimizers and 12,000 inverters – amounting to a total generation of 50 megawatts and 70% of the power optimizers market.
Background
Traditional photovoltaic systems (PV systems) are typically characterized by a centralized inverter or string inverter architecture*. In this topology the inverter performs Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) for large quantities of solar panels as a whole. Since the solar panels are connected in series to form strings, the same current must flow through all the modules, so the solar inverter continuously adjusts the electric current in the system to find the average optimal working point of all the modules.As a result, potential power may be lost whenever a mismatch exists between modules.[2][3]* Panel mismatch is unavoidable in many cases, due to panel manufacturing tolerance, partial shading,[4] uneven soiling, or uneven tilt angle. In addition, power may also be lost due to slow tracking of dynamic weather conditions caused by moving clouds,[5] and on extremely hot or cold days when the system DC voltage may exceed the inverter’s permissible input voltage range*. Other drawbacks of traditional PV systems include:
- System design is constrained by the need to match all strings’ length and orientation
- Monitoring visibility and fault detection are limited to the inverter (or in some cases, to the string level)
- High DC voltage is present as long as the sun is up, posing a possible risk of electrocution to installers, maintenance personnel and firefighters*
Solution
SolarEdge’s distributed photovoltaic system prevents energy loss due to panel mismatch by performing MPPT for each panel individually*. Maintaining a fixed voltage at all times allows strings to be combined regardless of length, tilt, or the type of modules in use*. Continuous performance measurement enables panel-level online monitoring and fault detection.To address the issue of PV safety, the SolarEdge system contains an automatic SafeDC™ mechanism which shuts off DC voltage on the panels whenever the inverter or the grid power is disconnected.
Offering
SolarEdge delivers a distributed system that tackles the aforementioned challenges. Energy loss due to panel mismatch is prevented by performing MPPT for each panel individually. String voltage is kept fixed at all times, so strings can be combined regardless of length, tilt, or type of panels used. Continuous performance measurement enables online monitoring and fault detection at panel-level. Installer and firefighter safety is enhanced by shutting off the DC voltage whenever the inverter is disconnected. To achieve the above without raising the cost of the system, compared to standard inverters, SolarEdge provides panel optimizers as well as its own inverter and monitoring web portal. The solution is applicable for a wide range of applications, from residential roofs to large scale solar farms.Power Optimizer
The SolarEdge Power Optimizer is embedded into each panel by panel manufacturers instead of the junction box*, or retrofitted by PV installers onto regular modules**. The power optimizer optimizes energy output by performing Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) individually for each panel and maintains a fixed DC string voltage*. Power optimizers also collect performance measurements and telemetries of each panel, and transmit the data over existing power lines.Inverter
The SolarEdge Solar inverter is responsible for DC to AC inversion while MPPT and voltage management are handled by power optimizers separately for each module. Fixed string voltage ensures operation at the highest efficiency at all times (98% maximum efficiency), independent of string length and temperature.The company offers single-phase inverters with a rated AC power output of between 3,000 to 6,000 watts*, as well as three-phase inverters with a rated AC power output ranging between 7,000 to 12,500 watts*.
Monitoring Portal
A web-based and iPhone applications provide module-level*, string-level* and system-wide PV Monitoring. The software provides alerts on a wide range of issues affecting energy generation that might otherwise go undetected*. Data and alerts are presented on a virtual site map and can be pinpointed to specific location to reduce maintenance time and costs.Installer Tools
SolarEdge provides a set of freeware software tools with its products. The Site Designer recommends string layout and inverter and power optimizer selection, according to the site’s size. The Configuration Tool allows remote configuration of the SolarEdge inverter* as well as real-time, on-site verification of correct installation, and the iPhone Site Mapping Tool application, allows for swift and easy creations of a virtual map of the PV site*.Awards
SolarEdge was notably honored by receiving the following awards:- Red HerringRed Herring (magazine)Red Herring was a technology business magazine, which flourished during the dot com boom, with global distribution and bureaus in Bangalore, Beijing, and Paris. It also sponsored conferences designed to bring venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and technologists together. But the magazine went into...
: "100 Global Award 2010" (1/2011) - Red HerringRed Herring (magazine)Red Herring was a technology business magazine, which flourished during the dot com boom, with global distribution and bureaus in Bangalore, Beijing, and Paris. It also sponsored conferences designed to bring venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and technologists together. But the magazine went into...
: "100 Europe Award" (5/2010) - AlwaysOn: SolarEdge named a "2010 GoingGreen East Top 50" company (3/2010)
- Fast Company MagazineFast Company (magazine)Fast Company is a full-color business magazine that releases 10 issues per year and reports on topics including innovation, digital media, technology, change management, leadership, design, and social responsibility...
: SolarEdge named a "2010 World Top Ten Innovative Energy" company (2/2010) - Frost & Sullivan: "2009 European Solar Photovoltaic Hot Investment Opportunity Award” (9/2009)
- The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
and Cleantech Group: SolarEdge named a "Global Cleantech 100" company (9/2009) - Cleantech 2009 Tradeshow: “The Exceptional Product in the Environmental Protection Arena" award (6/2009).
See also
- Solar inverter
- Photovoltaic systemPhotovoltaic systemA photovoltaic system is a system which uses one or more solar panels to convert sunlight into electricity. It consists of multiple components, including the photovoltaic modules, mechanical and electrical connections and mountings and means of regulating and/or modifying the electrical...
- PhotovoltaicsPhotovoltaicsPhotovoltaics is a method of generating electrical power by converting solar radiation into direct current electricity using semiconductors that exhibit the photovoltaic effect. Photovoltaic power generation employs solar panels composed of a number of solar cells containing a photovoltaic material...
- List of photovoltaics companies
- Solar energy