GreenVolts Is All-In-One Solar Power Plant

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Most photovoltaic (PV) systems consist of modules, inverters, racking, wiring and other components – all sourced from different vendors. Even with the best design and engineering, this process is inherently inefficient. But Fremont, Calif.-based GreenVolts has broken ranks. The company has announced that it is offering the industry’s first “complete and fully integrated solar system,” including modules, trackers, inverters, energy management software, networking, AC and DC disconnects and all DC wiring. If it were possible to fit an entire solar power plant in a box and paint it a lovely shade of green, it might look like this.

GreenVolts’ concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) modules are one of the technologies featured at Arizona Western College‘s Yuma, Ariz., campus. Since taking part in that project, the company has taken some time off to revamp and streamline its product line. By maintaining full control of the design, engineering and installation process, GreenVolts says that their power plants achieve improved system performance at costs lower than traditional PV systems, and produce 30-40 percent more energy. The new turn-key system includes  Internet-based energy management software, which allows for real-time monitoring of site conditions and energy production, fault isolation and diagnostics, operation and maintenance logs, remote access and control of the entire system and hundreds of alerts and alarms. Because the monitoring software is integrated and designed specifically for the system, the company says it has more sophisticated capabilities than third-party software products.

GreenVolts CPV System_panels facing sun

image via GreenVolts

“Our complete system approach changes the entire solar experience,” said GreenVolts President and CEO David Gudmundson. “With GreenVolts, customers get simplicity, elegance, and precision in a utility-scale solar system that delivers higher performance and richer energy management than anything else in the world.”

The GreenVolts system is already installed at locations across the Southwest U.S. in Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, Tucson Electric, Imperial Irrigation District and Arizona Power Service territories.

Posted on December 28th, 2011 · Comment ↓

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Posted in Renewable Energy, Solar Power

  • Matt Moreno

    I saw one of these GreenVolt arrays in action at the Tucson Electric Power’s PV test yard in Tuscon.u00a0 What a cool setup, dual axis tracking, very high 1000+ volt interconnect and large inverters.u00a0 It was a nice bright sunny day and the inverters were absolutely singing producing power.u00a0 They have little heat sinks on the back of each “cell” with a frensnel lens on the front of each cell.u00a0 The high voltage interconnect allowed for much thinner wiring which reduces cost and voltage drop.u00a0 The build quality looked top notch, very cool setup.