Ampt, the world’s #1 DC optimizer company for large-scale photovoltaic (PV) systems, announced that it received a 380 MW order for Ampt String Optimizers to power a solar-plus-storage power plant. This latest win is the company’s largest solar-plus-storage project to date outsizing the 210 MW and 180 MW projects also recently announced. The projects use Ampt’s high, fixed-voltage PV+DC-coupled energy storage technology to lower system capital expenses and improve performance.
The 380 MW power plant uses Ampt String Optimizers to connect the PV system to 600 MWh of energy storage through a shared DC bus – commonly referred to as a “DC-coupled” architecture. The solar-plus-storage power plant will supply a clean, renewable source of electricity to consumers and provide transmission-level grid support to the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) power grid market.
Ampt String Optimizers are DC/DC converters that improve system performance by applying maximum power point tracking (MPPT) to each string of PV modules and then delivering that full power at a high and fixed voltage rather than the variable and lower voltage of systems without Ampt. These features reduce the current requirements of the entire system which lowers the costs of electrical components such as cables, battery converters, and inverters. Ampt’s predictable DC bus voltage also simplifies battery and inverter controls to improve grid responsiveness of the power plant.
Today’s order announcement is Ampt’s largest solar-plus-storage project to date. The 380 MW system outsizes the record-setting Latin America projects announced by the company a few months ago. Each of the hybrid solar-plus-storage power plants helps avoid expensive transmission system upgrades by providing additional operational capacity to existing lines which allows the energy produced and stored in one location to be transmitted to another location when the lines are less congested.
“The growing number and size of grid-scale solar-plus-storage projects is a testament to their increasing importance to the power infrastructure in the U.S. and globally.” said Levent Gun, Ampt CEO. “The cost and performance benefits of Ampt’s solution help to make these projects more economically viable.”
Ampt’s solution was highlighted last week in a new report by DNV which compared various PV+storage architectures. The report found Ampt’s high, fixed-voltage DC-coupled approach saved between 18.7 and 29.6 percent of impacted component costs compared to the other DC- and AC-coupled configurations.
Ampt is exhibiting at RE+ on September 20-22 at the Anaheim Convention Center in California. Please visit us in booth 1252 to learn about our award-winning products including our new i50 String Optimizer which will be on display.
