Windtech International has conducted a survey of inverters. In the March 2006 issue the bigger inverters were shown. Now the units between 275 and 2,000 watts are tabled and the results are shown in the accompanying tables. The survey was designed to allow potential customers to identify the features and capabilities of interest. The 16 results show that inverters servicing the wind industry have strong capabilities.
By Hans Hof, Europe’s Energy Point, The Netherlands
Some interesting trends:
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Only 3 of the 15 manufacturers contacted have responded to the questionnaire. Next time, we predict, this will be much higher.
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The AJ series inverters are the most compact ones, ranging from 140 to 255 W/dm3, while average specific capacity of all types is 153 W/dm3.
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A warranty period of 5 years seems easily possible. A standard warranty period of only 2 years seems too low. The market will ask for longer warranty periods.