National Semiconductor, QC Solar to manufacture, market intelligent PV electronics

MUNICH, GERMANY; INTERSOLAR EUROPE: National Semiconductor Corp. and QC Solar, a leader in manufacturing photovoltaic connecting systems, have signed a sales agreement to integrate National's award-winning SolarMagic technology into QC Solar's SmartTrack product line, including intelligent junction boxes.

The move comes one year after the two companies formed a strategic partnership and marks the successful completion of extensive tests of National's technology in QC Solar's products.

"We created our SolarMagic suite of products to provide solar array owners with an affordable means to increase the power output of their already costly installations," said Mike Polacek, senior VP, National Semiconductor. "Through our agreement with QC Solar, we will continue to honor this commitment and further drive down the price of harnessing energy from the sun."

As part of the initial agreement between National and QC Solar, QC Solar developed an intelligent junction box that applied National's proven distributed maximum power point tracking (MPPT) technology with QC Solar's reliable and high performance solar electronics to dramatically increase energy harvest.

QC Solar will manufacture and market two types of junction boxes in its SmartTrack line; one will feature integrated MPPT IC and diode pass protection and the other will offer independent MPPT.