SatCon Technology has announced the launch of its high efficiency, 30kW and 50kW PowerGate Plus photovoltaic inverters. PowerGate Plus photovoltaic inverters are the next generation of PowerGate inverters for commercial and large-scale grid connected photovoltaic power systems that have become recognized for their reliability, energy efficiency and ease-of-use.

"PowerGate Plus 30 and 50 kW inverters are the first of a new series inverters that have been designed for high-efficiency, improved energy harvesting, and long-life", stated Clemens van Zeyl, President of SatCon's Power System Division.

"These inverters have also been designed for ease of manufacture and maintenance, which will significantly increase our manufacturing capacity, reduce our lead-times, and reduce operating costs for our customers. We welcome customers and investors to visit our booth at the PowerGen Renewable trade show and see first hand this exciting new product with its many features designed to benefit the solar photovoltaic industry"

The 30kW and 50kW PowerGate Plus inverter incorporates many of the features of the original PowerGate Inverter plus several improvements that add further value to photovoltaic power systems. The new 30kW and 50kW inverter models were fully certified to UL1741-2005 approval at the end of January with a California Energy Commission (CEC) efficiency rating of 95% and 95.5% respectively.

In addition to these leading CEC efficiencies for the sub-50kW, three-phase class of inverters, PowerGate Plus inverters utilize a proprietary enclosure constructed from long-life G90 galvanized steel, the latest advanced digital signal processing control, an advanced human machine interface (HMI) with display visible in sunlight and membrane keypad for easy identification of power system status and inverter setup, and many other features that add increased value to solar photovoltaic power systems.

PowerGate Plus Inverters

PowerGate Plus inverters are designed for use with alternative energy power systems to generate distributed electrical power. Distributed, alternative energy power generation is a growing trend toward the production of clean, reliable power at the point of use.

Alternative energy systems can alleviate congestion on highly loaded utility electrical distribution networks and offer an alternative to power line extensions in remote areas. Many alternative energy power systems require high-power, high-reliability inverters and controls to convert the power generated to useable AC power compatible with the electric power grid.