Morningstar-the premium controller supplier with a commitment to innovation and quality-is expanding our MPPT charge controller portfolio to best meet the present and future needs of the photovoltaic (PV) market.
NEWTOWN, PA, USA, October 21, 2013: At this year’s Solar Power International conference in Chicago, Illinois (October 21st – 24th) Morningstar Corporation is pleased to announce that our new TriStar MPPT 600V charge controller (TS-MPPT- 600V) and Ground Fault Protection Device (GFPD) product line families are now available. We have sent final pricing to all of our authorized distributors and shipments will commence on Nov 5th .
Morningstar’s TriStar MPPT 600V charge controller is a brand new addition to our world-leading TriStar MPPT solar controller family, which was first introduced in 2009 and has become the MPPT controller of choice for many large, global, off-grid PV applications. It leverages Morningstar’s innovative TrakStarTM MPPT technology and our 20+ years of power electronics engineering excellence, to deliver the widest PV input operating voltage range available in a PV controller. The TriStar MPPT 600V controller uses advanced power electronics to efficiently utilize up to 600 Voc PV or wind to charge 48 Vdc battery systems. Rated for 60 Amps, our TriStar MPPT 600V controller does much more than efficiently charge batteries; it also provides remote communications, data logging, adjustability and metering. In fact, the TriStar MPPT 600V controller is the only 600-volt PV controller to offer open communication protocols and true Ethernet-enabled functionality.
The TriStar MPPT 600V may be purchased with or without a pre-wired DC Disconnect Box. The pre-wired DC Disconnect Box version (model TS-MPPT-60-600V-48-DB) is acceptable for use with positively-grounded or negatively-grounded PV systems and helps to save on installation time and cost.
Morningstar’s Ground Fault Protection Device products are built to provide a superior solution to ground fault protection for both off-grid and on-grid PV systems. The GFPD products’ increase safety and design flexibility and are available in two model versions (GFPD-150V and GFPD-600V) to support 150V and 600V PV system breaker stacks. Ground fault protection is used in electrical systems to prevent current from following any unintended paths during a ground fault. It is critical to detect any stray current and to interrupt (break) the circuit until safe operation can be restored. A current imbalance between the conductors of a circuit indicates a ground fault. When a ground fault is detected, Morningstar’s GFPD breaks the circuit on both the positive and the negative legs and ensures interruption of the ground fault current better than other solutions on the market. “Morningstar’s GFPD has the potential to be a ‘game changer’, because it is a far superior way to accomplish ground fault protection,” said Lee Gordon, Morningstar’s President and CEO. “I believe everyone in our industry agrees that safety is paramount, and our GFPD greatly enhances system safety.”
