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SolarBridge Technologies (SolarBridge) is a provider of solar micro-inverter, solar inverter for photovoltaic arrays. These types of products aim to increase energy harvest and reliability while reducing the cost of solar installations and maintenance for residential and commercial markets.

History
SolarBridge was established in 2004 to bring to market power electronics technologies created at the University of Illinois. The company is venture capital backed, raising $46 million to-date.

Market Overview
The solar industry is on a drive toward grid parity or, the point in time at which solar-generated electricity costs the same or less than utility-generated electricity. Some solar analysts predict that most major areas of the world will reach grid parity by 2015, although some are arguing that grid parity is already here in many areas.

As solar module pricing continues to decrease, balance of system (BOS) costs will represent an increasing portion of solar costs. As a result, pressure is mounting to produce lower cost, end-to-end solar energy solutions that are more reliable and simpler to use than existing systems. Utility-scale solar addresses only part of the world’s growing energy needs. With significant environmental tradeoffs, utility-scale solar is capital-intensive and bankability is often a concern. Distributed, rooftop solar can be a significant piece of the renewable energy mix, particularly as module-integrated electronics such as microinverters enable the transition to lower cost, easy-to-use AC module solutions.

Traditional Rooftop Installations
In traditional rooftop solar PV installations, solar modules are connected together in Series and parallel circuits or solar inverter, where power is transmitted from module-to-module until it reaches the central or string inverter. When the performance of even one module is impaired, there is power loss along the entire string. The weakest module limits the energy production of the whole array.

When a central or string inverter experiences a performance issue, the performance of the entire system is compromised. Central inverters can only monitor performance at the system level, so problems with individual modules cannot be detected without sending a crew to inspect the roof. Additionally, central inverters pose a safety threat with high- voltage DC power (up to 600 volts) traveling across rooftops, which can lead to arc faults or arc-fault circuit interrupter.

One solution to these problems is the standalone microinverter, which is mounted on the racking system beneath each solar module. Microinverters improve energy harvest through a process known as module-level power point tracking. See also maximum-power point Solar cell efficiency. This involves the use of algorithms to find the highest density of energy on each solar panel. Because of this, PV system design is no longer constrained by roof orientation or shading issues. And because each panel harvests energy independently of others on a string, if one microinverter experiences a problem, the others along the same string are unaffected.

SolarBridge Solution
The SolarBridge Pantheon microinverter is mounted directly on the solar panel to create a roof-ready AC module. Power conversion takes place directly on each module, rather than through the central or string inverter. SolarBridge microinverters are backed by a 25-year warranty.

Current Status
The SolarBridge Pantheon microinverter passed all tests required under the Underwriters Laboratories 1741 safety standard as certified by the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) in early 2011. SolarBridge works directly with module manufacturers to develop integrated AC modules for the North American market, which are now commercially available.