Emerson wins major contract to provide inverters and plant-wide controls for California PV facility

Solar Power International 2010, ST. LOUIS, USA: Emerson has been awarded a contract to supply power inverters and plant-wide controls for what will be California’s largest photovoltaic power generation facility and one of the largest in the world.

Quanta Services awarded the contract to Emerson for the zero-emission solar projects in Kings County, Calif. Quanta will provide the engineering, procurement, and construction services for the facilities.

The projects were developed by Eurus Energy America and are owned jointly by Eurus and NRG Solar, a subsidiary of NRG Energy Inc.. Once completed in mid-2011, the facility will generate 45 megawatts of renewable energy, which is enough to power 36,000 homes when operating at full capacity.

Offered by Emerson Industrial Automation’s Control Techniques business, the innovative inverters and sophisticated software convert DC power from photovoltaic arrays into AC power that is placed on the electric grid and used in homes and businesses.

The inverters are controlled through Emerson’s state-of-the-art Inverter Management System, with overall plant control and interconnection with the electric grid provided by Emerson Process Management’s Ovation distributed control system.

“Emerson’s unique architecture and software platform will enable us to maximize energy yield, improve inverter life, and increase reliability,” said Mark E. Anderson, president and chief executive officer of Eurus Energy America. “Those technologies, paired with Emerson’s financial stability and dependable, long-term inverter warranty, provided a uniquely attractive package well-suited to this large-scale PV facility.”

“As the system integrator, Quanta looks for suppliers that have a flexible design, a reputation for meeting delivery commitments, and a willingness to stand behind their product,” said Chris Laursen, chief executive officer of Quanta Renewable Energy Services. “Emerson met these criteria, which are critical to timely project completion.”

Earlier this year, Emerson launched companywide initiatives designed to capitalize on the many technologies it delivers to solar and wind projects globally. Mark Bulanda, president of Emerson’s Control Techniques business, is serving as world leader for these Emerson initiatives and is coordinating the company’s activities for wind and solar energies across key Emerson businesses, including Emerson Network Power, Emerson Process Management, and Emerson Industrial Automation.

“Solar and wind energies offer significant growth opportunities for Emerson worldwide,” Bulanda said. “And our work with the Eurus Energy America project in California is just one example of the many ways that Emerson is helping make alternative energy projects a reality throughout the world. Many of our businesses are focused today on developing and delivering technologies for solar and wind projects.”

Emerson will be showcasing the breadth of its renewable energy technologies for the solar sector at the Solar Power International conference and expo in Los Angeles from Oct. 12-14.

In addition to the Emerson inverters used in large-scale facilities like the Eurus Energy America project, Emerson technologies to be demonstrated include Emerson Network Power’s inverters for use in residential and small-business applications, as well as Emerson Process Management’s Ovation distributed control system for solar power plants and Ovation SCADA for large-scale photovoltaic facilities.