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Solar
The USA solar market is rapidly growing and quickly moving towards grid parity energy production costs. Not only are there increased demands for greater system reliability over the desired twenty year life of the farms, but there is greater emphasis on sole source vendor equipment containerizing with extended service agreements. Most of the reliability issues have been with the solar inverters of the farms, but since solar systems are often built at ground level, greater concern for farm surveillance and equipment security has become a growing concern.
Most solar inverter issues result from legacy designs that were designed for efficiency more than reliability. Major industrial drive systems manufacturers have taken a different course, using extremely rugged power conversion systems borrowed from their motor control expertise. This approach drastically improves reliability but often does not address efficiency and maximum power input voltage range. They may claim both, but there is only one standard test for it – the California Energy Commission CEC Test – so without the mark, true efficiency is unknown. And as the USA solar industry matures, it is expected that UL will provide certification for not only 600 VDC but 1000 VDC solar inverters as well – and soon enough utilities and PPAs will require solar inverters to be certified to UL 1741 for 600 and 1000 VDC PV array systems.
As a result, the USA solar market will continue to evolve technologically for some time. In the end, the ideal solution addresses improving efficiency, meeting the expected CEC and UL standards of the future, providing maximum power over a wider input voltage range - all while increasing reliability – and containing cost per watt.
AETI, along with its operations M&I Electric, has with its solar industry partners begun a program to develop and implement a new approach to solar power conversion, while offering highly secure and custom bundled power conversion, distribution and control equipment for the following solar market segments.
- PV Panel OEMs
- Solar Farm Developers and Solar System Integrators
- Solar Farm Design, Build, Operate and Maintain Firms
AETI works with the solar markets in the following ways:
1. Working directly with solar PV OEM engineers to develop and implement custom and integrated power conversion, protection and control equipment bundled for direct delivery to the pad.
2. Working directly with solar farm developers and system integrators to develop and implement custom bundled power distribution, power collection, substations, electrical yards and grid interconnection.
3. Working directly within design, build, operate and maintain firms to provide electrical oriented site audits, construction, installation, start-up and commissioning during the build of the farm, along with custom bundled power distribution, power collection, substations, electrical yards and grid interconnection and the farm electrical maintenance, testing, auditing, repair and refurbishment services.
AETI has served the energy industry for over 50 years. We enable utilities, farm owners, and solar PV OEMs by providing power delivery equipment for the following types of projects:
- Custom bundled solar power conversion and distribution equipment
- Farm collection, distribution, substation, electrical yard and grid interconnection
Our products offered for the solar projects include:
- Low voltage UL/IEC bundled power conversion and distribution systems
- Electrical system monitoring and data collection systems
- Skidded or containerized medium voltage ANSI/IEC switchgear & substations
- Farm electrical design, construction, installation & commissioning services
- Farm maintenance, test, repair & refurbishment services
- Complete end to end turnkey bundled equipment and services solutions
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| AETI Reduces Solar Infrastructure Costs.pdf | 63.27 KB |
| AETI Reduces Solar Maintenance Costs.pdf | 63.48 KB |
| AETI Solar Market Case Study - O&M Costs.pdf | 2.16 MB |
| AETI Solar System Capabilities.pdf | 3.32 MB |
| AETI Solutions for the Solar Industry.pdf | 2.05 MB |