National Semiconductor, one of the biggest names in the semiconductor industry -- hit hard in the last two years by the economic downturn -- is diversifying its interests, particularly in the green direction. The company announced today that it will be selling a chipset that can up solar panel output.
National Semi's SolarMagic technology made its debut last year as an add-on for existing solar panel systems already in the field. Now, as a chipset, it can be integrated directly into panel architecture to increase the amount of power produced by the same amount of sunlight.
To do this, the SolarMagic component makes sure the voltage and current flowing from every individual solar panel in an array are the same, thereby increasing the overall flow of energy from the entire panel array, the company says. Like similar offerings (made by SolarBridge and Enphase Energy, for example), the chipset also collects data from the panels it serves and makes it available via the web. That way, solar installers and operators can see if panels are damaged or not working as well as they could be.
It's very common for panels in the same array to vary in efficiency and power output. For instance, some panels might be in the shade at times, while others may get dusty or may not stand up as well to the elements. Some might simply include unavoidable design flaws inherent in inexact science. Together, these sorts of problems can substantially reduce the amount of energy generated by the overall array. National Semi's chipset has been designed to even out these inconsistencies.
An early SolarMagic customer, SunEdison integrated the new chipset architecture into one of its solar installations, discovering that it increased energy generation by more than 20 percent. This boost comes with a price, though: about 12 cents per watt extra, to be exact. But for large, utility-scale arrays, this could be well worth it.
This new product isn't that surprising a move for National Semi. A lot of companies in the semiconductor arena have been beefing up their solar divisions -- think of Applied Materials, Intel and Cypress Semiconductor. An increasingly hot area in both the residential and commercial markets, solar could be exactly what these companies need to replace their eroding semiconductor sales.
National Semi's solar plans have been fairly public too. Last year it acquired solar power optimization firm ActSolar and web-based solar system monitoring company Energy Recommerce. Both of these technologies feed into what makes the new SolarMagic chipset so special.
Looking at the trend from a different angle, solar as a sector has a lot to gain from the participation of major analog chip makers. Panel makers like First Solar and SunPower may be doing well, but it's the Applied Materials and National Semis of the world that have the infrastructure and ability to scale that will eventually make solar energy generation cost competitive with fossil fuel sources.
The SolarMagic technology will be demonstrated at Intersolar Europe, a major industry conference, in Munich at the end of this month.