Page 48 - North American Clean Energy May June 2015

wind power

Reach for

the Sky

Inspiring an

appreciation

for renewable

energy

Left: he Eifel Tower in Paris, France
by Susanna “Qiang” Huang
Above: he inverter installed at the Eifel Tower

IN FEBRUARY 2015, TWO WIND TURBINES were installed on the Eifel Tower as part of a power, three-phase string inverter will have higher power production due to string-level
high-proile renovation to the monument managed by the Socít́ d’Exploitation de la optimization, potential lower upfront inverter and BOS costs, lower transportation and
tour Eifel. his renewable energy system will ofset the annual energy consumption of all installation costs, ease of maintenance, as well as advanced monitoring functions.

commercial activity on the Eifel Tower’s irst loor.
Remembering what happened in the solar panel industry, there are some who predict the
At the heart of the wind turbines are two vital instruments, the controller that converts inverter will become a commodity, but some disagree. As the “green heart” of a renewable
the ”wild” AC voltage from the turbines to DC voltage and protects the turbines in high energy system, the inverter will not have a fate of becoming a commodity. he Eifel Tower
winds; and the inverter that converts DC voltage back to AC voltage before feeding to the is structural art on a massive scale. “It is not only the art of the modern engineer, but also

grid.
the century of Industry and Science in which we are living,” said engineer Gustave Eifel in
he inverter installed at the Eifel Tower is a sophisticated, transformer-less grid-
1885. With hundreds of components inside of it, the inverter can be considered the mini
tied wind string inverter. It has come a long way since the irst inverter of this type was electrical artwork of engineers.
certiied to G83 standard in UK in 2006. he transformer-less technology has gained he inverter has become more intelligent; “talking” and “interacting” with other solar

popularity due to its high eiciency and light weight in recent years. he installed inverter equipment, smart grid, smart home, inancial systems, and people directly. he inverter
has ultra-wide input voltage range from 30V- 540V in order to take the variable inputs has enhanced safety responsibilities, such as Arc-Fault Circuit Interrupter (AFCI) and
from the wind. It has the world’s irst 40 points programmable, linearly extrapolated power Rapid Shutdown Function. In Hawaii, the inverter functions as a junior grid regulator. he

curve design that optimizes the power output for these wind turbines. It uses the current Load Rejection Transient Over Voltage (TrOV) function allows an inverter to protect the
controlled PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) inverter technology. With advanced precision solar system and electrical equipment in the building from the damage of dangerous TrOV.
MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) algorithm and high eiciency, the inverter is able he frequency and low voltage ride through (LVRT) function allows an inverter to operate
to respond very quickly to input voltage change and captures wind energy efectively for more productively during grid instability due to high solar penetration.

maximum power production. Typically operated in harsh environments, the wind inverter Inverters have become smaller with advanced technology. From the perspective of an
has a high standard for quality and reliability.
owner/operator, smaller inverters reduce the costs involved with product, transportation,
he solar inverter shares a similar platform with the wind inverter, but with a lesser storage, and installation. New innovations dramatically expand the reach of solar systems
degree of sophistication considering access to more stable input voltage inputs from solar to everyone, those who may have tight budget, who may want to start with a small

panels. However, the solar inverter has a much bigger stage on which to perform. Per experiment, or who just want to shave of the peak high rate.
GTM Research, by the end of 2014, a cumulative total of 18.3GWdc solar PV plants were Soon, the image of the inverter will shift away from “ugly” industrial equipment to
operating in the U.S.
“elegant” home appliance with beauty of simplicity, blending well with both home and
he transformer-less grid-tied solar string inverter is a main player in the residential business environments.

solar market where third party inancing of solar PV is the predominant business model
Established in 1889, the Eifel Tower was the tallest man-made structure in the world,
in the U.S. he large third party ownership (TPO) vendors such as SolarCity, SunRun, and inspiring the people to reach for the sky. On its oicial website, it is written, “he Eifel
Sungevity pioneered this business model and more followed. TPO vendors own the solar Tower has weathered decades to establish itself as a symbol of modernity. Everyone’s
systems and the associated equipment risks, helping their customers enjoy low-cost energy commitment to the topic of sustainable development requires new symbols; the Eifel

with peace of mind. hey have the resources and expertise to perform the bankability Tower must play its role and carry the message of sustainable development.” Today, some
study of the inverter, especially on the new entrants into the U.S. market, in terms of the of those 7 million visitors from around the world, will come away from the Eifel Tower
safety, performance, and reliability of the inverter and the inancial health of the inverter with a new appreciation for renewable energy. he Eifel Tower now inspires more people
manufacturer. hese companies are also looking for inverter innovations which can give to reach for the sky, to chase sun and harness the wind with green hearts.

them design lexibility for diferent roof orientations and pitch, improved installation
eiciency, and a lower total installed cost.
Susanna “Qiang” Huang is the general manager of Ginlong Solis USA. Ginlong Solis is a specialist
In recent years, transformer-less grid-tied solar string inverters have been favored over on grid-tied PV/wind/hybrid inverter and small wind systems.
central inverters in the commercial solar market, driven by falling string inverter cost and

technology improvements. his market is predicted to rebound in 2015. Commercial solar Ginlong Solis | www.ginlong.com
installations can run up to several megawatts (MW). A commercial installation using a low

48 nacleanenergy.com
MAY/JUNE 2015