Tigo Energy

Last updated
Tigo Energy, Inc.
Type Private
Industry Photovoltaics
Founded Silicon Valley, California (2007)
FounderSam Arditi
Ron Hadar
Headquarters Campbell, California, United States
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Zvi Alon (CEO)
Products Power optimizer
Software as a Service
Number of employees
75 (May 2017)
Website TigoEnergy.com

Tigo Energy is an American private corporation, headquartered in Campbell, California, United States. It provides products, technologies, software, and services to installers, distributors, and original equipment manufacturers within the photovoltaic industry. It specializes in module-level power optimizers and smart module power electronics.

Contents

The company was founded in 2007 by a team of experienced technologists. The Tigo team developed the first-generation Smart Module Optimizer technology for the solar industry. Tigo has operations in the United States, across Europe, Latin America, Japan, China, Australia and the Middle East.

Tigo Energy is not affiliated with Millicom International Cellular, also known as Tigo.

History

Tigo Energy was founded by Sam Arditi and Ron Hadar in 2007. As of May 2017, the company employs more than 70 people in more than 10 offices worldwide. [1]

In December 2011, the company announced its fourth round of funding, an $18 million investment led by Bessemer Ventures. [2]

In June 2012, Tigo Energy announced an award from the United States Department of Energy as part of its SunShot incubator projects worth $3.5 million. [3] The projects are designed to reduce the ongoing costs and prevent safety hazards from electric arcs in photovoltaic arrays.

In 2012, Tigo Energy announced the market launch of its newest generation of technology designed to be built directly into solar panels during manufacturing. These smart modules included all the benefits of traditional power optimizers, but without requiring installers to add extra boxes to solar modules. Tigo Energy's launch partners included Trina Solar, Hanwha SolarOne, DelSolar, Astronergy, Upsolar, and Luxor Solar. [4]

In September 2012, IMS Research identified Tigo Energy as one of three suppliers accounting for 90% of the micro-inverter and power optimizer market. [5]

In October 2020, Tigo Energy launched the Tigo Enhanced initiative with partner inverters. Tigo incentivizes its program partners to promote Tigo Enhanced inverters by allocating marketing funds for every inverter sold under the program. In addition, the Tigo Enhanced logo, displayed on Tigo module-level power electronics (MLPE) and inverter partner products, creates a visual link of compatibility between devices. Sungrow, Growatt, Chint Power Systems North America, Yaskawa Solectria Solar, and Canadian Solar participate in the program. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

January 2021, Tigo Energy raised $20 million in funding led by Energy Growth Momentum. [11]

In August 2021, Tigo Energy announced the release of its Tigo TS4-A-S rapid shutdown with module-level monitoring for solar modules rated up to 700 watts. [12] [13] [14]

In September 2021, Tigo announced a residential inverter and battery storage solution under the Tigo EI (Energy Intelligence) brand. [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]

Science and technology

Tigo Energy uses impedance matching to provide power control, data monitoring and safety mechanisms for every module in a solar array to increase performance and safety over traditional system-level technologies. [2] The company also hosts customer data and provides detailed analytics with a software as a service business model.

The company was the first power optimizer to successfully certify embedding its electronics directly into the junction box of a solar module, reducing the component and labor costs of optimized photovoltaic arrays and eliminating the need for additional hardware. [20]

Products

Tigo TS4 Flex MLPE provide different functions for solar modules including optimization, monitoring, and rapid shutdown. [14] [21]

Tigo EI Residential Solution includes an inverter, battery, and automatic transfer switch (ATS). [18] [19]

Energy Intelligence Software is the Tigo commissioning and monitoring platform. [22] [23]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Photovoltaics</span> Method to produce electricity from solar radiation

Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commercially used for electricity generation and as photosensors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solar inverter</span> Converts output of a photovoltaic panel into a utility frequency alternating current

A solar inverter or photovoltaic (PV) inverter is a type of power inverter which converts the variable direct current (DC) output of a photovoltaic solar panel into a utility frequency alternating current (AC) that can be fed into a commercial electrical grid or used by a local, off-grid electrical network. It is a critical balance of system (BOS)–component in a photovoltaic system, allowing the use of ordinary AC-powered equipment. Solar power inverters have special functions adapted for use with photovoltaic arrays, including maximum power point tracking and anti-islanding protection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solar cell</span> Photodiode used to produce power from light on a large scale

A solar cell or photovoltaic cell is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by means of the photovoltaic effect. It is a form of photoelectric cell, a device whose electrical characteristics vary when exposed to light. Individual solar cell devices are often the electrical building blocks of photovoltaic modules, known colloquially as "solar panels". The common single-junction silicon solar cell can produce a maximum open-circuit voltage of approximately 0.5 to 0.6 volts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maximum power point tracking</span> Solar cell power extraction method

Maximum power point tracking (MPPT), or sometimes just power point tracking (PPT), is a technique used with variable power sources to maximize energy extraction as conditions vary. The technique is most commonly used with photovoltaic (PV) solar systems, but can also be used with wind turbines, optical power transmission and thermophotovoltaics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solar panel</span> Assembly of photovoltaic cells used to generate electricity

A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. The electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct current (DC) electricity, which can be used to power various devices or be stored in batteries. Solar panels are also known as solar cell panels, solar electric panels, or PV modules.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solar power</span> Conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity

Solar power, also known as solar electricity, is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic effect. Concentrated solar power systems use lenses or mirrors and solar tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight to a hot spot, often to drive a steam turbine.

A photovoltaic system, also PV system or solar power system, is an electric power system designed to supply usable solar power by means of photovoltaics. It consists of an arrangement of several components, including solar panels to absorb and convert sunlight into electricity, a solar inverter to convert the output from direct to alternating current, as well as mounting, cabling, and other electrical accessories to set up a working system. It may also use a solar tracking system to improve the system's overall performance and include an integrated battery.

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A power optimizer is a DC to DC converter technology developed to maximize the energy harvest from solar photovoltaic or wind turbine systems. They do this by individually tuning the performance of the panel or wind turbine through maximum power point tracking, and optionally tuning the output to match the performance of the string inverter. Power optimizers are especially useful when the performance of the power generating components in a distributed system will vary widely, such as due to differences in equipment, shading of light or wind, or being installed facing different directions or widely separated locations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SolarEdge</span> Israeli technology company

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eIQ Energy

eIQ Energy, Inc. is a venture-backed Silicon Valley startup that designs and manufactures power electronics for solar photovoltaic systems. The company's Parallel Solar technology, built around the vBoost DC converter module, is intended to reduce overall system costs and enable a true parallel architecture, benefiting system designers, installers and operators. eIQ Energy was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rooftop solar power</span>

A rooftop solar power system, or rooftop PV system, is a photovoltaic (PV) system that has its electricity-generating solar panels mounted on the rooftop of a residential or commercial building or structure. The various components of such a system include photovoltaic modules, mounting systems, cables, solar inverters and other electrical accessories.

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The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE is an institute of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. Located in Freiburg, Germany, The Institute performs applied scientific and engineering research and development for all areas of solar energy. Fraunhofer ISE has three external branches in Germany which carry out work on solar cell and semiconductor material development: the Laboratory and Service Center (LSC) in Gelsenkirchen, the Technology Center of Semiconductor Materials (THM) in Freiberg, and the Fraunhofer Center for Silicon Photovoltaics (CSP) in Halle. From 2006 to 2016 Eicke Weber was the director of Fraunhofer ISE. With over 1,100 employees, Fraunhofer ISE is the largest institute for applied solar energy research in Europe. The 2012 Operational Budget including investments was 74.3 million euro.

Enphase Energy, Inc. is an American energy technology company headquartered in Fremont, California, that develops and manufactures solar micro-inverters, battery energy storage, and EV charging stations primarily for residential customers. Enphase was established in 2006 and is the first company to successfully commercialize the solar micro-inverter, which converts the direct current (DC) power generated by a solar panel into grid-compatible alternating current (AC) for use or export. The company has shipped more than 48 million microinverters to 2.5 million solar systems in more than 140 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Photovoltaic system performance</span>

Photovoltaic system performance is a function of the climatic conditions, the equipment used and the system configuration. PV performance can be measured as the ratio of actual solar PV system output vs expected values, the measurement being essential for proper solar PV facility's operation and maintenance. The primary energy input is the global light irradiance in the plane of the solar arrays, and this in turn is a combination of the direct and the diffuse radiation.

References

  1. ↑ "The Top 10 Venture-Backed Green Companies - WSJ.com". Online.wsj.com. Retrieved 2013-12-11.
  2. 1 2 "Tigo ramps up funds and production of solar electronics — Tech News and Analysis". Gigaom.com. 2011-12-12. Retrieved 2013-12-11.
  3. ↑ "SunShot Initiative: SunShot Incubator Projects". .eere.energy.gov. Retrieved 2014-03-04.
  4. ↑ "Leading Solar Module OEMs To Display Next-generation Tigo Energy Technology During PV Expo Japan". Tigo Energy. 2012-02-28. Archived from the original on 2012-08-12. Retrieved 2013-12-11.
  5. ↑ "Microinverters & Power Optimizers Outpace PV Inverters in 2011 – 70 percent Growth Predicted in 2012". IMS Research. 2012-09-04. Retrieved 2013-12-11.
  6. ↑ Crowell, Chris (17 September 2020). "Tigo launches Tigo Enhanced program in conjunction with solar inverter partners | Solar Builder". solarbuildermag.com. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  7. ↑ "Tigo Energy Recognizes Sungrow for 50MW of Solar Deployed Through Tigo Enhanced Partnership Program". yahoo! finance. 16 December 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  8. ↑ "Tigo Welcomes Canadian Solar to Tigo Enhanced Program". Businesswire. 12 May 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  9. ↑ "Tigo Enhanced | PV Rapid Shutdown| Tigo Energy". Tigo Energy. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  10. ↑ "UL PVRSS certified inverters with Tigo TS4 | Tigo Energy". Tigo Energy. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  11. ↑ "Tigo Energy Raises $20M in New Financing". vcnewsdaily.com. 14 January 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  12. ↑ "Tigo Energy adds Flex MLPE for 700-Watt solar modules | Solar Builder". Solar Builder. 26 August 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  13. ↑ "Tigo 700W optimiser with rapid shutdown". AC Solar Warehouse. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  14. 1 2 "TS4 Flex MLPE". Tigo Energy. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  15. ↑ Kennedy, Ryan (23 September 2021). "Tigo launches residential inverter and energy storage products". pv magazine USA. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  16. ↑ "Tigo Energy Launches Residential Inverter and Battery Storage Solution Under the Energy Intelligence Brand". yahoo!. 23 September 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  17. ↑ Fields, Spencer (23 September 2021). "Introducing the Tigo Energy Intelligence Residential Solution | EnergySage". Solar News. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  18. 1 2 Fine, Ariana (23 September 2021). "Tigo Energy Debuts Inverter/Battery Storage Line". Solar Industry. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  19. 1 2 "EI Residential Solar Solution". Tigo Energy. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  20. ↑ "Solar Electronics, Panel Integration and the Bankability Challenge". Greentech Media. 2012-08-23. Retrieved 2013-12-11.
  21. ↑ Brown, Gwen (8 June 2021). "Module-Level Power Electronics (MLPE) for Solar Design: A Primer". Aurora Solar. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  22. ↑ Crowell, Chris (5 August 2021). "Tigo Energy debuts Energy Intelligence to improve O&M, fleet management | Solar Builder". Solar Builder. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  23. ↑ "32219 - Overview". Tigo Energy. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
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