Tag:

ABB

ABB’s New Solar Power Inverter Increases Power Density By 40%

written by saurabh

ABB has brought some good news for solar photovoltaic power project developers who look to squeeze out additional revenue in an increasingly competitive market scenario.

ABB has started shipping its latest PVS980 central inverter that significantly increases the incoming power from the solar power panels. The company also claims that developers will now have to use lesser number of inverters.

The PVS980 increases the incoming power from solar power modules by 40% meaning more power being converted from DC to AC and fed to the grid. This would effectively mean that developers will have to install lesser number of panels to feed a given amount of electricity into the grid, thus resulting in less capital investment.

Developers will also save on the cost of putting up inverters. ABB claims that by using PVS980 project developers will be able to reduce the number of inverters required to be installed by 30%. This will translate into huge savings as inverters represent one of the costliest components of the solar PV project.

The inverter was first introduced as a concept at Intersolar 2015 and the company has now started shipping the product following tests in pilot projects and strong interest from customers.

“ABB engineers have improved the compactness of the device, enabling a power density increase of more than 40 percent making it possible to build large power rated inverters in the same physical size. Avoiding external air entering the critical compartments of the inverter, the inverter can operate from below freezing to extreme heat in 100 percent humidity without jeopardizing functionality,” ABB said in a statement.

Such inverter solutions are critical for the financial sustainability of projects in highly competitive markets. ABB is the largest inverter supplier in India where solar PV tariff have plummeted from around US¢19.00/kWh in 2010 to US¢6.50/kWh in 2016. ABB is also supplying inverters to the solar power project with the world’s lowest tariff – Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum solar park in Dubai.

Photo courtesy of vectoropenstock.com for CleanTechies

06/26/2016 1 comment

Renewable Energy

Who Owns All the Smart Grid Patents?

written by Eric Lane

Ever wonder who owns all the smart grid patents? With all of the acquisitions in smart grid (see, e.g., here and here), it seems a lot of folks have been considering the question.

A recent study by patent analytics firm Relecura on smart grid patent holders seeks to answer this question. It turns out the top five are ABB, GE, Panasonic, Siemens, and Toshiba:

The study breaks out the results by six sub-technology categories (communications, software, smart meters, sensors, substation automation, and distribution automation) and lists the top large entities and SMEs in each subcategory:

The full report, which can be found here, styles itself a “preliminary survey of the Smart Grid assignee landscape and first-cut identification of patent asset holders in Smart Grid technology.”

According to Relecura, the purpose of the study is to identify potential licensees and acquisitions targets for each of the sub-technologies. The study uses 2008 as a reference year, and defines its Potential Licensees and Potential Acquisitions Targets relative to that year.

More particularly, Potential Licensees are entities whose patent applications were filed in 2008 or later while Potential Acquisitions Targets are typically small or medium sized entities with granted patents from applications filed in 2008 or earlier. In other words, small companies and SMEs with relatively mature patent portfolios are deemed more ripe for acquisition and those with younger patent portfolios are thought to be more amenable to licensing IP.

With so much activity in smart grid M&A, this report could be useful to a lot of people.

03/26/2014 0 comment

Energy Efficiency

Green Patent Acquisitions Keep on Coming

written by Walter Wang

There have been a few interesting acquisitions this month. First, energy efficiency solutions provider Serious Energy bought Agilewaves, a Silicon Valley startup that specializes in energy data storage and retrieval.

Agilewaves owns at least one published U.S. patent

12/01/2011 1 comment

Renewable Energy

Train Recycles Braking Energy to Power other Trains

written by Walter Wang

A new subway development in Warsaw, Poland, captures the braking energy from its metro cars and stores it to boost another train’s acceleration to the next station.

Regenerative braking for trains is picking up steam from the West Coast of the USA to the East, and also

11/15/2011 1 comment

Clean Transportation

Could Boats Plug In to the Electricity Grid?

written by Walter Wang

Plugging in an electric car is very well and environmentally good, but what about the emissions reductions of connecting a large yacht or even an entire cruise ship to the grid? Currently, ships must burn fuel to maintain onboard systems, even at port. Linking just one cruise ship at port to the electricity grid could

09/15/2011 0 comment

Renewable Energy

CSP in SE Asia: Packing Potential, Lacking Conviction

written by Walter Wang

CSPcontinues to be somewhat of a Cinderella alternative energy technology in South East Asia. This is despite some heavyweight supporters, not least the Asian Development Bank’s US$2mn investment in 2010 to develop its so-called Asia Solar Energy Initiative in the Asia-Pacific region and events such as the 2010

09/06/2011 1 comment

Renewable Energy

Top Ten Highlights of Cleantech Zurich, Switzerland

written by Walter Wang

Zurich is one of the most important cities of Switzerland. Zurich has helped to make Switzerland one of the leaders on cleantech investment and energy efficiency around the globe. Due to the waste management programs, sustainable transportation projects, renewable energy advances, and green

07/25/2011 0 comment

Clean Transportation

Green Patent Acquisitions: ABB Buys EV Charging Tech Company Epyon

written by Walter Wang

ABB, a large power and automation equipment conglomerate, recently announced that it has acquired Dutch EV charging company Epyon Power (Epyon).

Epyon, a a spin-off of Delft University of Technology, provides DC charging stations and supporting

07/21/2011 0 comment