CANADA GOES SOLAR WITH BIPV

An inverter is a New Energy necessity: It transforms the current created by a wind or solar system into a current that can be sent into the grid. Grid-tied systems provide end-users the flexibility of drawing from the New Energy system when it is producing or from the grid when the sun is down or the wind is calm.

Sustainable Energy Technologies: Canada to Fund World-Leading Building Integrated Solar Pilot Projects
November 21, 2007 (Marketwire via Yahoo Finance)

WHO
Sustainable Energy Technologies Ltd. (Michael Carten, President/CEO), Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), Day 4 Energy, Solar Wall

With solar units integrated into the structure's design and an inverter to take the electrons into the grid, everything is in place. (click to enlarge)

WHAT
Sustainable’s SUNERGY(TM) inverter will be used in NRCan’s Solar Buildings Research Network (SBRN) , a series of building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) solar projects.

WHEN
Announcement by Sustainable November 19.

WHERE
Sustainable Energy is based in Calgary Alberta.

The Sunergy configuration keeps the electrons flowing even when a panel is obscured. (click to enlarge)

WHY
- Sustainable will partner with Day 4 and Solar Wall in demonstration projects to prove the special value for BIPV of Sustainable's patented power inverter technology.
- Sustainable’s SUNERGY inverter is able to handle the short low voltage module strings of BIPV systems. Typical PV panel systems have longer, higher voltage strings and are more readily handled by conventional inverters. As demonstrated by the illustrations, the Sunergy configuration allows 75% of peak power to be delivered when a panel is in shade whereas power delivery is disrupted in standard configurations.

With a standard inverter configuration, a shaded panel stops the power flow. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
Carten, Sustainable Energy: "We are very pleased that Natural Resources has committed funding for these projects which may be the first of their kind in the world…Building integrated solar is where growth in the industry will come from globally, and the projects offer an excellent opportunity for Sustainable to demonstrate our advantages for building integrated solar that conventional inverter technology simply can not deliver."