Doc's Talk: Tigo Energy monitors the power from the sun

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Tigo Energy monitors the power from the sun

Karin Kloosterman
September 23, 2009

Tigo Energy can squeeze more power from existing photovoltaic solar panels and offers real time information from the panels.

Voted one of the world's most promising clean tech companies, Israeli-US company Tigo Energy says its key contribution is its innovative technology for managing solar systems.

Despite the cutting-edge science invested in solar energy, some aspects of the industry lag behind, explains Jeffrey Krisa, VP of marketing and sales for Tigo Energy. And that's just where his company comes in.

Since 2007 it has raised $17 million, and Tigo Energy is now the leader in the US in its field and the first to be certified safe and effective for improving the efficiency and online monitoring of solar panel installations.

The company offers a technology and IT solution in one. Tigo can squeeze more power from current photovoltaic solar panels, and it also helps solar power plant owners to manage their assets more effectively, by providing them with real time information from the panels.

It was recently voted one of 100 most promising clean technology companies in the world by the Cleantech Forum, an international firm for promoting investment in clean technologies, and The Guardian newspaper in the UK. "We were pleasantly surprised," Krisa tells ISRAEL21c. "They went to a lot of experts in the field, people who were well aware of upcoming technologies."

Solar power photovoltaic (PV) cells have been "fairly stable for the better part of 10 years. When you look at large PV projects you've got a whole pile of panels, inverters and a meter telling you what's coming out of the plant," says Krisa.

However, more traditional power plants, such as coal-fired, natural gas, or nuclear plants have technology that provides "infinite data about what's going on from the generation side with a lot of controls," he adds, explaining that solar energy plants are "not on par with traditional [energy] in terms of control or monitoring."

A faster return on solar investment

Tigo builds hardware and software intelligence into solar energy installations, making them - the company asserts - more efficient, manageable and safer. It also adds that it's advanced balance of system products deliver lower cost of ownership and faster return on investment.

"One of the key things we bring is innovation around the ability to manage the system," Krisa asserts, adding that this year Tigo has emerged from its R&D mode to start selling its "Maximizer" boxes and online controls on a trial basis. The company reached this stage after much research at trade shows, where it examined the current innovations around materials and energy efficiency in PV systems.

Krisa claims that with its small box connected to each solar PV panel, Tigo improves energy efficiency - the solar power harvested from the PV panels - by six to eight percent. These rates were measured on residential units, in a variety of shade conditions. Top efficiency rates peaked at 20% and this means a faster return on investment for the consumer or businesses.

"More importantly what we are doing really is revolutionizing the way the system is managed, operated and maintained," stresses Krisa. He's referring to the small piece of electronics that the company inserts at each of the panels. "We are able to instrument each one of the panels and provide through [it] a web interface, and an IT and technology solution," he explains.

A granular data set, he adds, allows a project manager to check the status of the panels at all times. Even in a field of 5,000 panels, five-second interval checks can be made on each one.

Don't blame the clouds

Practically speaking, maintenance staff can schedule servicing in response to outputs from the panel. "We can see if a certain corner is getting dirtier than another. From that we will be able to run an analysis to send a cost versus payback [report]," says Kriser. And naturally, data can be sent to a cell phone, remote computer or PDA.

With other systems, "... one can't see down to the panel level. You can't see the data real time," Kriser explains. A site manager may see a drop in production, but he won't understand the reason for it. It could be caused by clouds, less sun, a panel that needs servicing or dirty panels interfering with the output.

The Tigo system can also prevent vandalism. "It's one of the features on our roadmap," says Krisa. And because the Tigo system provides feedback from the panels day and night, it's easy for the company to prevent theft in countries where it's a problem, like in Italy, or in emerging markets.

Selling since March, rather than committing to 50 megawatts at once, large companies, whose names are confidential, are committing to 50 or 100 kilowatts to start. Tigo is currently installing their boxes at three to five sites a week, with each box costing $56 per unit.

Aligning with key players in the market such as Kaco Solar in Germany and AEE Solar, a prominent PV distributor in the US, Tigo announced its UL 1741 compliance this week, which means the company is now able to launch into full-scale sales. Tigo is the first company in this space to reach that milestone, says Krisa: "It shows our leadership and readiness." By early next year Tigo's products will be available worldwide.

Integration into solar panels

As part of its roll-out, Tigo not only provides the "Module Maximizer EP," boxes that runs in parallel circuits, but is also offering a second version, the "Module Maximizer ES," which runs in serial. The company also aims to have its core technology integrated directly into the PV panels of other manufacturers to reduce costs of materials and installation time.

Currently the Tigo Energy solution is a stand-alone polycarbon box that affixes to the frame of a PV panel. Integrating it into other companies' existing technologies offers a number of advantages. "Put right into solar panels, it could vastly reduce the cost of a panel footprint. You can also enhance the performance of the panel itself," says Krisa.

Founded by two native Israelis, Sam Arditi and Ron Hadar, the company was registered and funded in Silicon Valley in late 2007. With a base in Kfar Saba, Israel, run by Modi Avrutsky, an engineering genius, the company employs about 30 people in Israel and the US.

Investors include Matrix Partners, OVP Venture Partners from Seattle and the IDB Group from Israel.

Israel 21c

No comments:

The IDF’s Minorities in Numbers and Pictures

In honor of IDF Diversity Week, we present diversity through numbers and pictures. Each year, more and more Muslims, Christians, Druze, Bedouin and immigrants from around the world take on the responsibility of defending Israel.

MUSLIMS:

Muslim Arab Israelis are not required to draft in the IDF, but there are many who volunteer. In 2013, there were over 200 Muslims serving in the IDF and over 300 in the reserves.

Bedouins:

Bedouins are nomadic Muslims who were in Israel when modern borders were set in place and are now considered Israeli citizens. They are not required to draft but a growing number choose to enlist. In 2012, there were over 1,400 Bedouin Muslim soldiers doing regular IDF service and almost 1,500 in the reserves.

Read more:http://www.idfblog.com/2014/02/27/truth-idf-numbers-pictures/#more-34027

Are you aware that in 2013, Middle class taxes go up-significantly?

In January of next year, the federal income tax rate for middle-class taxpayers is scheduled to rise from 25 percent to 28 percent, and the payroll tax is scheduled to rise from 13.3 percent to 15.3 percent… This drives the marginal tax rate based on the aforementioned three taxes to 48.12 percent. Add in state and local property, corporate, excise, and other state and local taxes, and the percentage of each additional dollar that is taxed hovers around 50 percent… When half of each additional dollar earned is taxed away, taxpayers experience a disincentive to start businesses or expand existing ones. This leads to fewer jobs being created.

Why is HAMAS Inside Tampa Schools?

Clare Lopez

Kelly Miliziano, who teaches history classes at Steinbrenner High School in the Tampa, Florida area apparently thinks it’s perfectly OK to invite a senior official of a HAMAS-affiliated organization into her classroom to discuss Islam with her students. According to local media reports, not only has this been going on for years, but in spite of the civil and criminal proceedings that could result from such reckless negligence, the Hillsborough County school superintendent, Mary Ellen Elia, and the chairman of the school board, Candy Olson, also expressed approval for students under their responsibility to be exposed repeatedly to guest speaker, Hassan Shibly, who is the Executive Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the Tampa area.
More...

Did You Know... Ignoring the Call to Islam will Bring Jihad

‘Conquest through Da’wa [proselytizing] that is what we hope for. We will conquer Europe, we will conquer America! Not through sword but through Da’wa.’
-- Yousef al-Qaradawi , Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader The Arabic word ‘Da’wa’ means the “call to Islam.” But do not think that Da’wa is the same thing as an invitation to an optional holiday event. The classical Islamic doctrine of jihad mandates that enemies must be given the opportunity to convert to Islam or pay the jizya tax before it is permissible to attack them.
Clare M. Lopez

Who is being discriminated-facts tell the truth

Religious bias

Hate crimes motivated by religious bias accounted for 1,409 offenses reported by law enforcement. A breakdown of the bias motivation of religious-bias offenses showed:

65.4 percent were anti-Jewish.
13.2 percent were anti-Islamic.
9.5 percent were anti-other religion, i.e., those not specified.
4.3 percent were anti-Catholic.
3.8 percent were anti-multiple religions, group.
3.3 percent were anti-Protestant.
0.5 percent were anti-Atheism/Agnosticism/etc.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/hate-crime/2010/narratives/hate-crime-2010-incidents-and-offenses.

On March 31, 1977, the Dutch newspaper Trouw published an interview

with PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein. Here's what he said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism.

For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

In March 1977, Zahir Muhsein, a PLO executive, said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct Palestinian people to oppose Zionism."

"For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

The Arab Apartheid

Ben-Dror Yemini
In 1948, the Arab countries refused to accept the UN partition proposal and they launched a war of annihilation against the State of Israel which had barely been established. All precedents in this matter showed that the party that starts the war - and with a declaration of annihilation, yet - pays a price for it. Between 550,000 and 710,000 Arabs fled because of the war and a larger number of 850,000 Jews were expelled or fled from Arab countries (the "Jewish nakba").
Population exchanges and expulsions were the norm at that time, occurring in dozens of other conflict points and affecting about 52 million people. In all the population exchange precedents that occurred during or at the end of an armed conflict, there was no return of refugees to the previous region, which had turned into a new national state.
Only the Arab states acted completely differently from the rest of the world. Instead of assimilating the refugees, they crushed them despite the fact that they were their coreligionists and members of the Arab nation - instituting a regime of apartheid. So the "nakba" was not caused by the actual dispossession, which had also been experienced by tens of millions of others. The "nakba" is the story of the apartheid, oppression, abuse and denial of rights suffered by the Arab refugees at the hands of the Arab countries. (Maariv)

International Law and Military Operations in Practice - Col. Richard Kemp

"Islamist fighting groups study the international laws of armed conflict carefully and they understand it well. They know that a British or Israeli commander and his men are bound by international law and the rules of engagement that flow from it. They then do their utmost to exploit what they view as one of their enemy's main weaknesses. Their very modus operandi is built on the correct assumption that Western armies will normally abide by the rules, while these insurgents employ a deliberate policy of operating consistently outside international law. "

Lost Historical Moments

What Rabin’s last Knesset speech really said:repudiation of a Palestinian state

Rabin ruled out a fully sovereign Palestinian state :

“We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority.”

Rabin ruled out a total withdrawal from Judea and Samaria and thus a return to the pre-June 1967 borders :

“The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.”

Rabin ruled out withdrawing form the Jordan Valley:

“The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.”

Rabin ruled out uprooting settlement blocs, like the Gush Katif bloc in Gaza (which was subsequently uprooted by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon):

“The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif.

AND

Rabin ruled out removing any settlement before coming to a full peace agreement with the Palestinians:

“I want to remind you: we committed ourselves, that is, we came to an agreement, and committed ourselves before the Knesset, not to uproot a single settlement in the framework of the interim agreement, and not to hinder building for natural growth.”

Rabin insisted on Israel retaining full security control of the borders with Egypt and Jordan, contrary to Israel’s relinquishment of the Philadelphia Corridor on the border with Egypt:

“The responsibility for external security along the borders with Egypt and Jordan, as well as control over the airspace above all of the territories and Gaza Strip maritime zone, remains in our hands.”

Correcting Oslo Myths-Part 2

3) Kuttab laments that the post-1993 Oslo process resulted in a Palestinian Authority "whose ministers and legislators are not guaranteed passage between Gaza and the West Bank ...."

Before free passage or other perquisites, PA leaders were obligated, among other things, to eliminate the terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, end anti-Israeli, antisemitic incitement in schools, mosques, and communications media, and resolve all outstanding issues through peaceful negotiations. They met none of these commitments, sometimes bolstering terrorism and greatly increasing incitement.

4) Kuttab complains that under Oslo the PA got "lightly armed police ---- but no real sovereignty over the land or contiguity between our communities in Gaza and the West Bank."

Oslo agreements repeatedly were revised, regardless of Palestinian non-compliance, until the authorized number of police grew from 8,000 to 40,000. Though they were to be the only armed forces in the territories, Israeli estimates early in the second intifada put the number of gunmen - police, "security services," terrorists, and armed gangs - at 85,000. Their armament reportedly included not only heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, but also anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

Sovereignty was to be negotiated in the envisioned 1998 "final status" talks - after a five-year period of confidence-building. Palestinian leadership chronically undermined the process. Palestinian terrorism made the 1993 - 1998 Oslo period more deadly for Israelis than the 15 years preceding it.

The United States doesn't have contiguity between the lower 48 states and Alaska and Hawaii; territorial contiguity between the West Bank and Gaza Strip - that is, through the 20 miles of Israeli territory between them - was never promised and would destroy Israeli contiguity.

5) "Palestinians have been made to endure hundreds of checkpoints in the West Bank, an eight-foot wall deep in our territories, and tight Israeli control over borders."

The security barrier is not "deep in Palestinian territories," but rather encompasses less than 8 percent of Judea and Samaria, and is mostly a fence, rarely a wall; the land in question is not "our [Palestinian] territories" but disputed territory to which, according to the authors of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, Jews as well as Arabs have claims; and there are no international borders, only the 1949 armistice lines with Jordan. Under 242, borders remain to be negotiated. As for checkpoints - like the security barrier and "tight Israeli control" - Palestinian Arabs precipitated these measures themselves. No terrorism and there would be no fence or tight Israeli control and few checkpoints - like before the first intifada.

Correcting Some Oslo Myths

1) In Oslo "Israeli, Palestinian and other world leaders promised that ... Palestinian sovereignty would be solidified."

No, they didn't. The 1993 Declaration of Principles and subsequent Oslo agreements outlined a process by which final status negotiations about the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be reached. The process required an end to anti-Israel terrorism and incitement and a commitment to peaceful negotiations. The PA, Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and other terrorist groups, sabotaged the process from the start.

2) "The reality is that, in defiance of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, which states that it is inadmissible to occupy land by force, Palestinian territories are still under foreign military occupation."
Wrong again. Resolution 242 (1967) does note "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war." It also affirms the right of every state in the area "to live in peace with secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." There were no "Palestinian territories." Jordan occupied the West Bank, Egypt controlled Gaza. Israel did not have "secure and recognized boundaries," so retention of some of those territories was possible under 242. Israel is not a "foreign" military occupier in the West Bank but, pending final negotiations, the lawful military administrator as a result of a successful war of self-defense.

Doc's Talk