eIQ Energy, PV Powered ally on potential solar energy product enhancements

SAN JOSE, USA: eIQ Energy, Inc. and PV Powered, Inc. of Bend, Ore., will jointly explore enhancements to their solar energy conditioning products in a collaborative effort.

The two companies will seek to optimize system-level solutions used in solar power installations. By pre-validating the operation of PV Powered inverters and eIQ Energy’s vBoost product, system designers can be assured of the interoperability and optimal performance of the two solutions.

PV Powered is a leading supplier of high-efficiency inverters, which convert the DC power generated by solar panels to AC. eIQ Energy’s Parallel Solar technology—including the recently launched vBoost DC-to-DC converter modules—allows solar arrays to be wired in parallel rather than series, with substantial cost savings.

The two companies’ products will inter-operate across electrical buses, where there are opportunities to optimize the performance of system components. These optimizations will not only improve the operation of the solar installation but will also have a significant impact on the economics.

Among other things, the vBoost narrows the range of the voltages seen by the inverter, which could enable higher conversion efficiency for inverters. The data that can be provided by the vBoost system will give array operators better visibility into performance and potential problems before they have a chance to affect the inverter.

“We see an opportunity to collaborate with eIQ Energy and provide our customers system-level solutions that improve the economics of solar by optimizing power production from the panel to the inverter to the grid,” said Gregg Patterson, CEO of PV Powered.

Oliver Janssen, CEO of eIQ Energy, added, “We have great respect for PV Powered's technology; we’re using their inverters at a number of our beta installations with excellent results. We look forward to having a solution on the market that can take advantage of the innovation that the joint optimization of the two products will bring to the table.”