SatCon Technology Corporation (Nasdaq CM: SATC) has become the first provider of high-power, commercial photovoltaic inverters to deliver and install a UL1741 approved ground fault detection interrupter (“GFDI”), resulting in significant savings for installers of photovoltaic systems.
The purpose of the GFDI is to detect low levels of ground currents and interrupt any faults within specified limits. GFDI is a key electrical protection feature that will become mandatory for photovoltaic systems under UL1741 by May 7, 2007.
The GFDI was developed by SatCon specifically for alternative energy power systems, and in particular photovoltaics, after its market research revealed that there were no commercially available devices that could meet the new standard. To protect SatCon’s innovative GFDI solution, a patent filing was made prior to shipment of the GFDI.
“SatCon has a history of being the first to market with innovative solutions designed to minimize costs for power generation systems, and being the first to market with a UL1741 approved GFDI for high-power, commercial applications reinforces our commitment to continually improve the system economics for our alternative energy clients”, said Clemens van Zeyl, President of SatCon’s Power Systems Division.
“Furthermore, I am pleased to announce that PowerLight Corporation, an industry leader in the development of photovoltaic power generation systems, was the first to install the UL1741 approved GFDI. We look forward to working with PowerLight on other innovative solutions to continually improve the competitiveness of photovoltaic power generation systems.”
“Over the past year, we have worked closely with SatCon to install over 3MWs of their inverters at PowerLight projects,” said Daniel Shugar, PowerLight President. “SatCon’s ground fault detection interrupter does significantly reduce our installation costs.”
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