Andy Green has worked for Emerson Control Techniques for 25 years, holding various positions including those of Systems Sales Director and General Manager. For the past three years, in the position of Industry Development Manager – Solar Inverters, he has channelled his knowledge of grid tie inverter applications in support of Emerson’s goal of becoming a leading player in the central inverter market.
PES: Welcome back to PES. Can you tell us a little about how the company has been performing this past year and if you have unveiled any major product/service developments?
Andy Green: 2010 was another year of outstanding growth for our PV business driven primarily by continued penetration of the utility-scale PV inverter market with our SPV inverter systems which we launched in 2009. To service the demand for these products we have expanded our manufacturing facilities in Central Europe and we anticipate additional capacity being brought on line in Asia and the Americas during 2011.
PES: When the company last appeared in the magazine you told us about your transformerless central inverter system for utility-scale photovoltaic power plants. Can you tell us a little more about how this and about how sales are progressing?
AG: Our SPV inverter systems offer a range of transformerless central inverters from 145kVAp to 1.59MVAp. With the exception of the smallest power ratings in the range, each inverter is constructed from multiple standard 175kW power modules which are mass produced and derived from modules used in industrial motor control applications. This approach has given us a very robust and reliable inverter solution that has been extremely well received in the market.
