Valere Power has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration to develop a power management system that will dramatically improve the power extraction of PV solar-energy systems. The company will use the grant funds to do basic research on the system, applying expertise gained from telecommunications power systems.
In its grant application, Valere laid out an integrated solution that combines low-cost sensors in each solar power system component with an overall system controller that leverages computing power built into the power inverter. Depending on the installation, the system can be tied together using wireless or powerline-networking technology.
The SBIR grant program was begun in 1982 to encourage small businesses to pursue research and development projects. SBIR grants fund the critical startup and development stages of R&D, and encourage the commercialization of the technology, product or service. More information about this year’s grants is available on the SBIR awards website.