20 March 2009
National expands its solar credentials
National semiconductor has acquired Act Solar, a privately held solar energy company, in a bid to extend its solar energy efficiency and management capabilities.
The purchase will allow National to expand its range of power optimisation technologies along with the acquisition of new diagnostics and panel monitoring capabilities for solar arrays.
Act Solar now becomes part of the National's SolarMagic family – which enhances the efficiency and output of solar arrays. Act's products will be incorporated to improve array performance, complementing central inverters by recirculating small amounts of energy as needed. The technology is based around a technique for power tracking, by injecting energy into the string as opposed to traditional DC-DC voltage converting approaches. According to National, early field tests showed that Act's solution cumulatively delivered 40 to 80% more power over the operating life of a solar panel installation.
Mike Polacek (pictured), senior vice president of National's key market segments, said: "National Semiconductor is applying its 'PowerWise' capabilities to drive new energy generation and efficiency initiatives in the solar panel marketplace. Now with Act Solar we can further improve the performance and efficiency of solar systems, at the same time providing monitoring capabilities not available before. This will make solar installations more efficient and ultimately reduces the cost of solar energy for everyone."
Author
Chris Shaw
Supporting Information
Websites
http://www.actsolar.com
http://www.national.com
Companies
National Semiconductor Corp
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