Newsletter - Q1 2016   NEW PRODUCT: PVI 50/60TL Effective Grounding U.S. Solar Market Insight 2015 Solectria Happenings Recent Installations Meet our Team!

On Tuesday, April 5th, Yaskawa - Solectria Solar introduced its PVI 50TL and PVI 60TL inverters, adding to its fleet of 1000VDC, transformerless string inverters.  The PVI 50TL and PVI 60TL inverters are best-in-class and feature packed, proven by their design flexibility, compliance with NEC 2014, wide MPPT voltage range, 1.5 DC/AC ratio, -30°C to +60°C operating temperature range and remote diagnostics/firmware upgrades.

Yaskawa – Solectria Solar has always been at the forefront of the U.S. PV market. According to GTM Research’s U.S. PV Leaderboard Q1 2016 data, Yaskawa – Solectria Solar is the #1 commercial inverter supplier to the U.S. Market, claiming 42% market share in Q4 2015 and 30.5% market share overall in 2015. The new PVI 50TL and PVI 60TL inverters add to the current fleet of transformerless PVI 14-36TL commercial inverters - each designed to maximize return on investment (ROI).

“Yaskawa – Solectria Solar continues to broaden its product portfolio of quality products with proven reliability backed by personalized service. Our new PVI 50TL and PVI 60TL have been field tested and have the design flexibility our customers have come to expect with an integrated, detachable wiring box with MC4 connector option, 0-90° mounting configuration and NEC 2014 compliance with integrated arc fault and rapid shutdown,” said Phil Vyhanek, President of Yaskawa – Solectria Solar.

To read the complete press release, CLICK HERE.  To learn more about the the new PVI 50/60TL inverters, CLICK HERE.

To request additional information, including pricing, please contact your sales rep or email inverters@solectria.com. 

Emily Hwang's, Senior Applications Engineer at Yaskawa - Solectria Solar, Effective Grounding: Oregon's New Frontier article was recently published on Oregon Solar Energy Industry Association's (OSEIA) website. The article discusses effective grounding installations in Oregon and why more and more utilities are adding this as a requirement. READ MORE HERE

You can also access our Effective Grounding White Paper, written by Senior Engineers at Yaskawa - Solectria Solar here or our Effective Grounding Design Tool here.
  

• Total PV installed in the U.S. in Q4 2015 was 7,260 MWdc 
  • ​Largest PV installed annual total in U.S. history
  • 16% higher than Q4 2014
• The residential market is still the fastest growing market, installed 2GWdc in Q4 2015; 66% more than Q4 2014
• The non-residential (commercial) market stayed flat, as expected, but is expected to grow 
• The utility-scale market installed over 4 GWdc, up 6% over 2014 (and another 20 GWdc in the pipeline)
• The total cumulative GW installed in the U.S. in 2015 was 7.26 GWdc and overall total cumulative PV installations surpassed 25 GWdc
• Solar supplied 29.4% of all new electric generating capacity brought on-line in the U.S. in 2015, surpassing Natural Gas 

• 2016 will (still) be a banner year for solar because the ITC extension passed at the end of the year unexpectedly and the industry prepared for this with >20GWdc in the pipeline
• Congress passed the ITC extension in December 2015, which will continue to assist with solar growth in the U.S.:
  • ​The Federal ITC now remains at 30% through 2019
  • Steps down to 26% in 2020, then 22% in 2021
  • In 2022, it will step down to 10% for all PV installations, except residential, which will expire completely

• SEIA: Q2 2015 Review Solar Market Insight Overview
• GTM: Q2 2015 Review Solar Market Insight Overview

At the end of March, Yaskawa - Solectria Solar's parent company, Yaskawa America, Inc. (YAI), announced the promotion of Mike Knapek, President and COO of the Drives & Motion Division, to the position of CEO. Mr. Knapek takes over for Mr. Masahiro Ogawa, who led Yaskawa’s Drives, Motion, and Robotics business in the Americas for the past 5-1/2 years. Ogawa will return to Kurosaki, Japan to take on the role of Corporate Vice President and General Manager of Yaskawa’s global robotics business. 

In his new role, Mr. Knapek will lead both the Drives & Motion and Motoman Robotics Divisions of Yaskawa America, Inc. He will also continue to serve as President and COO of the Drives & Motion Division, while Steve Barhorst will remain President and COO of the Motoman Robotics Division.

In August, 2015, Mr. Knapek, became Corporate Vice President of Yaskawa Electric Corporation in Japan. He joined Manfred Stern from Yaskawa Electric Europe to become the first non-Japanese members of the Yaskawa Electric Executive Committee.

This promotion recognized Mr. Knapek's leadership in driving the three Yaskawa Electric corporate principles of management: quality of products, improved efficiency of operation, and focus on customer satisfaction at YAI, as well as the entire YAI organization’s performance as it relates to those principles.

Mr. Knapek's involvement at the Executive committee level gives a greater voice to YAI in the strategic direction of the total Yaskawa Electric organization. Further, adding a United States member to the Executive Committee fortifies YAI’s growing position as a vital asset of Yaskawa Electric Corporation.

Mr. Knapek began his career with Magnetek, Inc. in 1986. After Yaskawa acquired the Drives Division from Magnetek, he grew to take on leadership roles in several product areas. He later became responsible for the drives business in North and South America. Knapek became President and COO of Yaskawa America, Inc. in March of 2011. Under his direction, Yaskawa has increased market share every year, including record-setting years in 2014 and 2015.

To learn more about Yaskawa - Solectria Solar's Parent Company, Yaskawa America, Inc., please go to www.yaskawa.com.  

Recent Installations

Location: Rancho Cucamonga, California

Project Size: 1MW
Integrator:
Inverters: QTY 33, PVI 28TL


Long Subaru

Location: Webster, Massachusetts
Project Size: 246kW
Integrator:
Inverters: QTY 1, PVI 75KW; QTY 5, PVI 28TL

Faith Home

Location: San Pedro Sula, Honduras

Meet our Team!