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DOE OSTI · 1902306

2021 Small Turbine Certification Awardee: Intergrid LLC

Abstract

Currently, there are no U.S., fully certified inverters for wind turbines in the 10-15-kilowatt (kW) range. The federal government's Competitiveness Improvement Project (CIP) and Small Business Innovation Research programs present the most viable paths for manufacturers in the distributed wind energy industry to conduct research, develop their products, and, ultimately, commercialize them. Through CIP, Intergrid LLC is reducing the cost, size, and weight of its legacy inverter for distributed wind turbines while increasing efficiency, reliability, and serviceability. To accomplish this, Intergrid will address three areas related to power electronics for distributed wind turbines: (1) Software verification and functional safety certification; (2) Simulation for grid-interconnecting testing; (3) Component alternatives that reduce cost and improve reliability and serviceability. The first two areas relate to long-term management of inverter software, which, for grid-connected inverters, must comply with three standards - one issued by Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and two issued by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

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2022-12-01. 2021 Small Turbine Certification Awardee: Intergrid LLC. https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1902306

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