June 19, 2025 • 23 mins
Are you ready for the biggest shift happening in utility-scale solar right now?
The transition from central to string inverters is revolutionizing how we build and operate massive solar farms across America. In this eye-opening episode, Luke Schlichte, Utility Sales Representative at CPS America (Chint Power Systems), breaks down why this technological shift is happening and what it means for the future of utility solar.
Luke reveals the stark reality of underperformance plaguing utility-scale solar in the US, where some 200MW projects have experienced as low as 14% uptime after their first year. The culprit? Central inverters creating catastrophic single points of failure that can take entire megawatt blocks offline for weeks or even months at a time.
Key topics covered in this episode:
- Why string inverters eliminate catastrophic downtime risks
- The financial impact of inverter choice on long-term asset performance
- How CPS's 350kW string inverter (the world's most powerful) is changing the game
- Distributed vs. skidded design approaches for utility solar
- Maintenance and servicing advantages that save time and money
- Why specialized technician shortages make string inverters essential
- Real-world case studies of projects switching from central to string
Luke explains how modern high-power string inverters like CPS's 350kW unit offer the modularity benefits of string technology while matching the economics of central inverters. With features like 15 MPPTs per inverter and full power output up to 45°C, these aren't your typical rooftop string inverters.
Whether you're an asset owner, EPC contractor, or anyone involved in utility-scale solar development, this episode provides crucial insights into technology choices that can make or break project profitability. Luke shares how CPS's unique approach of studying returned inverters in their labs drives continuous innovation and why they view themselves as partners for the entire project lifecycle.
Connect with Luke Schlichte
LinkedIn: Luke Schlichte
Website: CPS America
Connect with Tim
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Email tim@cleanpowerhour.com
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The Clean Power Hour is produced by the Clean Power Consulting Group and created by Tim Montague. Contact us by email: CleanPowerHour@gmail.com
Corporate sponsors who share our mission to speed the energy transition are invited to check out https://www.cleanpowerhour.com/support/
The Clean Power Hour is brought to you by CPS America, maker of North America’s number one 3-phase string inverter, with over 6GW shipped in the US. With a focus on commercial and utility-scale solar and energy storage, the company partners with customers to provide unparalleled performance and service. The CPS America product lineup includes 3-phase string inverters from 25kW to 275kW, exceptional data communication and controls, and energy storage solutions designed for seamless integration with CPS America systems. Learn more at www.chintpowersystems.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Luke Schlichte (00:00):
I think everybody knows that string
inverters are easier,simplified, O M, you know, spare
parts list. We say, you know,it's fans, but really we just
advise taking, you know, havinga handful or so spares on site,
(00:21):
because, you know, again, youhave a central inverter fail,
catastrophic downtime, that fourmegawatt block is down, there's
hundreds of spare parts that youhave to have an inventory, and
can be a supply chain constraintthat the industry has seen
before that can lead toprolonged downtime, and then
you're additionally at the mercyof the specialized technician to
(00:43):
perform the repair, where stringinverters, it's technician level
O, M, and it's a it's a swap,and we're talking less than an
hour to replace that 350kilowatt inverter.
intro (00:59):
Are you speeding the energy transition. Here at the
Clean Power Hour, our host, TimMontague, bring you the best in
solar, batteries and cleantechnologies every week. Want to
go deeper into decarbonization.
We do too. We're here to helpyou understand and command the
commercial, residential andutility, solar, wind and storage
industries. So let's get to ittogether. We can speed the
(01:21):
energy transition
Tim Montague (01:25):
today. On the Clean Power Hour, we continue
the journey. The transition fromcentral to string inverters is
real and prescient and happeningin the US. And for good reason,
my guest today is Lukeschlichte. He is the utility
sales rep for CPS America,otherwise known as chin power
systems. Welcome to the show,Luke,
Luke Schlichte (01:46):
hey, thanks for having me. Tim, always great to
talk to you. I
Tim Montague (01:50):
love this topic. I just think of central inverters
as outdated busses, like they'rejust ginormous. It takes a huge
crane to move these thingsaround, and there was a day when
they were the standard. Butthings have changed, and across
the globe, you know, we forget,Luke, that the United States is
(02:10):
not at the forefront of solartechnology and design and
construction. Unfortunately, Iwish we were, but we're 10 years
behind Asia and Europe and theone of the major trends in solar
construction is this adoption ofstring inverters for utility
solar. These are 100 to 100megawatt projects to gigawatt
(02:33):
now we have some 1.2 plusgigawatt size utility solar
projects. These are really big.
These are 10s of 1000s of Acresolar farms. So anyway, Luke,
give our listeners a littlebackground on yourself and how
you came to the utility salesrole at CPS. Yeah.
Luke Schlichte (02:51):
Thanks, Tim, yeah. So I've been with CPS for
almost three years now, beenlargely been in sustainability,
but my career, but yeah, I had agood friend of mine, uh, refer
me to CPS, and it's been anincredible ride. You obviously
know about the team and theculture, the leadership we have
here, so I've been veryfortunate to be a part of the
(03:12):
team. And I was really kind ofdrawn to our utility products,
our high powered stringinverters. You know, they're
obviously the best spec for specon the market. But really, you
know, what interests me isthere's a, there's a really big
underperformance problem withutility scale solar in the US
where, you know, that's reallytaking a toll on the production
(03:38):
and revenue for these long termasset owners. And really, I
think string inverters,modularity, and specifically CPS
is solutions are the are theremedy there?
Tim Montague (03:51):
Yeah, and you know, it's this. It's a simple
trade off that gets made. Ifyou're an asset owner. This is a
particular interest to you,because, yeah, on the front end,
designing in central invertersmight be a little cheaper still
today, in 2025 but the long termproject cost the OPEX is going
(04:14):
to be lower with with stringinverters. And it's not rocket
science, right? Because when youlose a block, when you lose a
central inverter, let's say afive or 10 megawatt inverter,
right? That's a huge chunk ofrevenue. KWh is revenue, right?
Whereas with the stringinverter, in the string space,
we're looking at 350 maybe 375Do you have a 375 yet
Luke Schlichte (04:38):
350 that that's biggest, one, the big, the
highest power string inverter onthe market in the world. Yup.
Tim Montague (04:45):
So the 350 kW, yeah, it's like a small
refrigerator, but two, twoworkers could carry that device.
You can have spares on site, inthe trailer, in the in the
container. There's just a lot ofpracticalities to. Having string
inverters. I'm curious though,Luke, you know you're talking to
customers day in and day out.
What are some of theconversations you're having and
(05:06):
and what is it the customerslike? About 350 kW string
inverters?
Luke Schlichte (05:14):
Yeah, you know, getting back to the
underperformance issue, you knowif, if you are the long term
asset owner, you have skin inthe game, or you're using
private equity, and you're nothitting those production
projections, you know, thenyou're concerned about how you
(05:39):
can relegate that and fix that.
And to me, it's clear it'smodularity. And, you know, I
think we're best positioned tokind of lead the transition to
from central to string.
Obviously, it's the status quo.
We have a very capex focusedsystem here. And, you know,
obviously a lot of pre existingrelationships, so you just keep
(06:02):
doing what you're doing. Butthere's a better way now we
have. I know I get from a lot ofpeople that, hey, we've done
this exercise 100 times where wedo string verse Central. I
guarantee that they haven't doneit with a high power string
inverter. That's 350 kilowatts.
They might have done it before.
When they're they're talkingabout 50 or even 100 kilowatts,
but the math is different now.
(06:27):
And you know, there's so manydifferent ways that string
addresses all theunderperformance problems, not
just to at the inverter, but onthe string level, combiner and
tracker level, where that whichare all the main downtime causes
with the utility scale powerplant.
Tim Montague (06:48):
And one of the one of the key decisions, I think,
in solar plant design that getsmade is, are you going to do a
distributed or a skiddedapproach? Distributed you? And
this is an advantage and anoption. It with string
inverters, right? You canliterally sprinkle the inverters
out throughout the solar field,typically at the end of rows,
(07:11):
but depends on the design and oryou can do a central version of
that, where you bring all theinverters to a skid, and it's
kind of apples and oranges. Butwhat do you have to say about
that distributed versus skiddeddesign approach?
Luke Schlichte (07:33):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean, the
distributed I think, has a lotof advantages. And, you know, I
like to say that there's no,there's no flat rectangles left
anymore for the utility scaleprojects. So you're going to
have, you know, weird shapedparcels. You're going to have
(07:54):
topography challenges, andthat's really where I think the
distributed approach can beadvantageous. But you know,
similarly, you know, we have alot of EPC partners that want to
be able to have that centralizedapproach, to mimic a central
inverter, but then have thebenefits on the backside of the
(08:15):
ease of ONM, the swap ability ofstring inverters, they want to
have those benefits of, I'd say,our skidded string product was
born out of the feedback and thewant from our EPC partners that
maybe they're participating inin a RFP that's calling for
central inverters. Well, now wecan mimic that with our skidded
(08:36):
string you can, you know, stillcollect all your DC in the
field, use your trunk cable oryour your shoulders VLA, and
then have that single input withour skidded string and be able
to have that that benefit timethere. So you're taking away
that risk of catastrophicdowntime that you have with a
single point of failure in acentral inverter. Yeah,
Tim Montague (08:59):
yeah. We're going to see that theme time and time
again, catastrophic downtimeavoided. That is the key phrase.
What about let's talk a littlemore about the financial impact
of string inverters versuscentral inverters. In our
previous conversation, youreferenced a report from raptor
(09:20):
maps. But what do you say tocustomers about this, regarding
the financial impact of stringversus Central?
Luke Schlichte (09:29):
Yeah, you know, I would say a lot of folks that
I've talked to when I talk tothem about our solutions that
were specifically designed forthe utility scale part of our
industry that are stringinverters. Their interest is
peaked because they've alreadybeen pulling their hair out with
some of the issues surroundingcentral inverters. You know,
(09:52):
whether it is, you know, youknow, we've talked about that
risk of catastrophic downtime,they've lived that category.
Traffic downtime, and it'ssometimes been weeks, months.
I've heard six months or longer.
I've heard of 200 megawattprojects that had 14% uptime
after a year. You know, really,they're already looking for
(10:14):
solutions. So, you know, really,it's, you know, the first
question is the capex, like youmentioned, we're right there.
We're on par, or close to, withcentral inverters. Now, from an
equipment perspective, you know,there are some learning curves
that I hear about when you'redesigning with string versus
(10:37):
central which you know, ourapplications engineering team
will work as an extension oftheir engineering team to help
dial in the design side, to helpwith string sizing, you know,
design optimization. You know,we're here as a resource, and as
you know, we view ourselves as aas a partner for the life of
(11:01):
these projects. So not only onthat front end, but you know
that service is, you know, oneof the main reasons why we've
been able to have the kind ofcustomer retention that we've
had for and enjoyed that numberone spot for market share with
three phase string, really thosethe modular approach combined
(11:22):
with the backstop of the bestservice in the industry, that's
how we're going to ensure thatyour production estimates are
going to be attainable.
Tim Montague (11:34):
The Clean Power Hour is brought to you by CPS
America, maker of NorthAmerica's number one three phase
string inverter with over eightgigawatts shipped in the US. The
CPS product lineup includesstring inverters ranging from 25
kW to 350 kW, their flagshipinverter, the CPS 350 KW is
(11:55):
designed to work with solarplants ranging from two
megawatts to two gigawatts. CPSis the world's most bankable
inverter brand, and is America'snumber one choice for solar
plants, now offering solutionsfor commercial utility ESS and
balance of system requirementsgo to Chint power systems.com or
(12:17):
call 855-584-7168, 847168, tofind out more, I did some quick
math. And we have a we have afive megawatt project on campus
here in central Illinois, inChampaign, where I live, and it
(12:38):
has central inverters. But I didsome quick math on a five
megawatt inverter, okay, roughlyspeaking, for fixed tilt, which
it's no longer its tracker now,but for fixed tilt, that a five
megawatt inverter is producing500 megawatt hours per month,
it's a lot of juice, and thistranslates into, of course,
(13:00):
savings for those PPA customersthat are buying the power, and
it translates into revenue forthe IPP the asset owner. And
when both of those go away,you're just looking at a hole in
the ground. Basically, it'sreally a pain point. And in this
case, the inverter was down formonths because they couldn't get
a replacement part. And so itwasn't just one month. It was
(13:22):
like four months of downtime.
And you as an asset owner, as anoff taker, you're just not happy
about that. It's just reallypainful. So I do think that's
just a no nonsense way toexplain this to people
Luke Schlichte (13:39):
absolutely well into that. You know, CPS
president, Brian Wagner, helikes to refer to the as the
refer to the inverter as an ATM.
If your ATMs not working, it'snot pumping out cash. So, you
know, when people talk aboutcapex, I try to turn the
conversation to production.
Because, you know, the numberone goal of building a power
(14:01):
plant should be production anduptime. Production is king for
everything that we do. So Ireally think the more as we go,
more and more projects are goingto be going with string
inverters, just because they'regoing to make them more
profitable.
Tim Montague (14:20):
I wonder if for our listeners who are not that
familiar with large stringinverters, what are some of the
innovations that CPS is makingto improve performance,
reliability, serviceability andcost in this space?
Luke Schlichte (14:42):
Yeah, absolutely great question. Well, you've
been to our headquarters inRichardson, Texas. In our
headquarters there, we have ourCPS labs, and as far as I know,
we are the only invertermanufacturer that takes our RMA
and inverters. From ourcustomers, and we study them. We
(15:03):
try to find out what went wrongand what we learn in the lab
there, you know, we're buildingsolutions to be, you know,
included in products goingforward. So lot of innovations
that we've led with in theindustry, one of them being DC
enhanced that came from some ofthat work in CPS lab. So to
(15:25):
that, we're constantly gettingfeedback, and we're receptive,
receptive to feedback from ourclients, because we want to
listen to the market. I wouldsay again, the 350 kilowatt
inverter that is the highestpower inverter string inverter
in the world. It full power full350 kilowatts of power up to 40
(15:51):
5c before it begins to thermallyde rate. That's a higher, I
guess, the D rate number thanour competitors with a similar
sized string inverter. So that'ssomething that's going to ensure
that uptime 15 mppts per 350 sofor a 4.2 megawatt block, that
(16:12):
would be 12 350 kilowattinverters times 15 mppts, you're
talking about a hundreds ofmppts per four megawatt block.
That's advantageous, not only toreduce mismatch losses, but also
now you have granularity in yourdata down to the MPPT level. So
(16:34):
when there is a, you know, itmight, might not be a failure in
the inverter, might be a failureon the string combiner or
tracker level, you're able to toidentify where the issue is much
faster. Having that kind ofinformation, you're not you
know, it's not a needle in ahaystack. Would it would be with
a central inverter and you haveone or maybe four Max MPPT is on
(16:59):
a similar size block.
Tim Montague (17:01):
Yeah, we have to remember, there are other
problems that happen with solarprojects. Is not just inverters
and but having string inverterscan help you zero in on where
the problem is good point. So inthat regard, what are some of
the maintenance and servicingdifferences between string and
central inverters that ourlisteners should know,
Luke Schlichte (17:23):
yeah, that that is huge. And I think everybody
knows that string inverters areeasier, simplified, O M, spare
parts list. We say it's fans,but really we just advise
taking, you know, having ahandful or so spares on site,
(17:44):
because, you know, again, youhave a central inverter fail,
catastrophic downtime. That fourmegawatt block is down. There's
hundreds of spare parts that youhave to have an inventory, and
can be a supply chain constraintthat the industry has seen
before that can lead toprolonged downtime, and then
you're additionally at the mercyof the specialized technician to
(18:07):
perform the repair. Where stringinverters. It's technician level
O and M, and it's a it's a swap,and we're talking less than an
hour to replace that 350kilowatt inverter, it's even
less time than that for some ofour other products, but that
(18:27):
spares on site can swap it intechnician level on them, which,
you know, I can't stress thatenough, as you know, I feel like
the specialized technicians,They are already spread too
thin, and these specializedtechnicians, it's three, $400
per hour. Well, now that allthese you know, huge utility
(18:49):
scale projects of 234, 500 plusmegawatts are becoming more and
more commonplace. We're readingabout every day. What's going to
happen when they have failureissues. And we have these
specialized technicians that arealready spread thin, they're
going to become become even morespread thin. And then we have
(19:10):
labor issues with, you know,electricians and technicians,
not just in the renewablesindustry, but everywhere. So I
think that's going to be we havea looming concern there and
string is gonna, you know, bethe remedy here. In
Tim Montague (19:27):
2023 I wrote an article in PV magazine about a
clana project in, I think it'sBeaverton County, Montana. It's
called Apex solar. It's 105megawatt DC solar project. Oh,
sorry. Beaver head County insouthwestern Montana. And
(19:48):
there's a great quote in herefrom clana CEO. If you're not
familiar with clana, check themout. They're a big global IPP.
But CEO, Jason Ellsworth saysthe prolonged downtown. Time for
repair or replacement can bedetrimental to project
performance, referring to whythey have switched to string
(20:10):
inverters from Central inverter.
So check that article out. Ifyou just Google Montague,
central to string PV magazine,you'll find that article or
reach out to me. Please checkout all of our content. Clean
Power, hour.com, reach out to meon LinkedIn. Luke, what else
should our listeners know aboutyour work and how you work with
customers? Would love to learn alittle more of behind the
(20:31):
scenes. What's it like workingwith Luke schlichty, and what is
your what is your specialty?
What is it that you're lookingfor, the conversations the types
of clients that you're wantingto attract.
Luke Schlichte (20:45):
Yeah, really. I mean, hey, if you have skin in
the game, if you're a long termasset owner, IPP, we are going
to ensure the most amount ofuptime. We're going to make sure
your P 50 estimates areattainable, as you know. And I
think and I think I alreadysaid, we view ourselves as a
(21:05):
partner for the life of yourproject, so we're going to be as
an as invested in theperformance of that project. Is
you. So would love to see how wecan fit in to make your project
more profitable.
Tim Montague (21:23):
And how can our listeners find you, Luke.
Luke Schlichte (21:26):
I can be reached at Luke dot schlichty. That's S,
C, H, L, I, C, H, T, E, at Chimppower.com you can find me on
LinkedIn and DM me.
Tim Montague (21:40):
Awesome. Well, I want to thank Luke schlichty,
head of utility sales for CPSAmerica again, reach out to me
on LinkedIn. I love hearing frommy listeners. Tell a friend
about the show. That's the bestthing you can do to help the
show. And with that, I'll say,let's grow solar and storage.
Thank you so much, Luke.
Luke Schlichte (21:59):
Hey, let's, let's raise the bar for utility
scale solar.
Tim Montague (22:02):
All right, have a great day. You, too. You.
I think everybody knows that string
inverters are easier,simplified, O M, you know, spare
parts list. We say, you know,it's fans, but really we just
advise taking, you know, havinga handful or so spares on site,
(00:21):
because, you know, again, youhave a central inverter fail,
catastrophic downtime, that fourmegawatt block is down, there's
hundreds of spare parts that youhave to have an inventory, and
can be a supply chain constraintthat the industry has seen
before that can lead toprolonged downtime, and then
you're additionally at the mercyof the specialized technician to
(00:43):
perform the repair, where stringinverters, it's technician level
O, M, and it's a it's a swap,and we're talking less than an
hour to replace that 350kilowatt inverter.
intro (00:59):
Are you speeding the energy transition. Here at the
Clean Power Hour, our host, TimMontague, bring you the best in
solar, batteries and cleantechnologies every week. Want to
go deeper into decarbonization.
We do too. We're here to helpyou understand and command the
commercial, residential andutility, solar, wind and storage
industries. So let's get to ittogether. We can speed the
(01:21):
energy transition
Tim Montague (01:25):
today. On the Clean Power Hour, we continue
the journey. The transition fromcentral to string inverters is
real and prescient and happeningin the US. And for good reason,
my guest today is Lukeschlichte. He is the utility
sales rep for CPS America,otherwise known as chin power
systems. Welcome to the show,Luke,
Luke Schlichte (01:46):
hey, thanks for having me. Tim, always great to
talk to you. I
Tim Montague (01:50):
love this topic. I just think of central inverters
as outdated busses, like they'rejust ginormous. It takes a huge
crane to move these thingsaround, and there was a day when
they were the standard. Butthings have changed, and across
the globe, you know, we forget,Luke, that the United States is
(02:10):
not at the forefront of solartechnology and design and
construction. Unfortunately, Iwish we were, but we're 10 years
behind Asia and Europe and theone of the major trends in solar
construction is this adoption ofstring inverters for utility
solar. These are 100 to 100megawatt projects to gigawatt
(02:33):
now we have some 1.2 plusgigawatt size utility solar
projects. These are really big.
These are 10s of 1000s of Acresolar farms. So anyway, Luke,
give our listeners a littlebackground on yourself and how
you came to the utility salesrole at CPS. Yeah.
Luke Schlichte (02:51):
Thanks, Tim, yeah. So I've been with CPS for
almost three years now, beenlargely been in sustainability,
but my career, but yeah, I had agood friend of mine, uh, refer
me to CPS, and it's been anincredible ride. You obviously
know about the team and theculture, the leadership we have
here, so I've been veryfortunate to be a part of the
(03:12):
team. And I was really kind ofdrawn to our utility products,
our high powered stringinverters. You know, they're
obviously the best spec for specon the market. But really, you
know, what interests me isthere's a, there's a really big
underperformance problem withutility scale solar in the US
where, you know, that's reallytaking a toll on the production
(03:38):
and revenue for these long termasset owners. And really, I
think string inverters,modularity, and specifically CPS
is solutions are the are theremedy there?
Tim Montague (03:51):
Yeah, and you know, it's this. It's a simple
trade off that gets made. Ifyou're an asset owner. This is a
particular interest to you,because, yeah, on the front end,
designing in central invertersmight be a little cheaper still
today, in 2025 but the long termproject cost the OPEX is going
(04:14):
to be lower with with stringinverters. And it's not rocket
science, right? Because when youlose a block, when you lose a
central inverter, let's say afive or 10 megawatt inverter,
right? That's a huge chunk ofrevenue. KWh is revenue, right?
Whereas with the stringinverter, in the string space,
we're looking at 350 maybe 375Do you have a 375 yet
Luke Schlichte (04:38):
350 that that's biggest, one, the big, the
highest power string inverter onthe market in the world. Yup.
Tim Montague (04:45):
So the 350 kW, yeah, it's like a small
refrigerator, but two, twoworkers could carry that device.
You can have spares on site, inthe trailer, in the in the
container. There's just a lot ofpracticalities to. Having string
inverters. I'm curious though,Luke, you know you're talking to
customers day in and day out.
What are some of theconversations you're having and
(05:06):
and what is it the customerslike? About 350 kW string
inverters?
Luke Schlichte (05:14):
Yeah, you know, getting back to the
underperformance issue, you knowif, if you are the long term
asset owner, you have skin inthe game, or you're using
private equity, and you're nothitting those production
projections, you know, thenyou're concerned about how you
(05:39):
can relegate that and fix that.
And to me, it's clear it'smodularity. And, you know, I
think we're best positioned tokind of lead the transition to
from central to string.
Obviously, it's the status quo.
We have a very capex focusedsystem here. And, you know,
obviously a lot of pre existingrelationships, so you just keep
(06:02):
doing what you're doing. Butthere's a better way now we
have. I know I get from a lot ofpeople that, hey, we've done
this exercise 100 times where wedo string verse Central. I
guarantee that they haven't doneit with a high power string
inverter. That's 350 kilowatts.
They might have done it before.
When they're they're talkingabout 50 or even 100 kilowatts,
but the math is different now.
(06:27):
And you know, there's so manydifferent ways that string
addresses all theunderperformance problems, not
just to at the inverter, but onthe string level, combiner and
tracker level, where that whichare all the main downtime causes
with the utility scale powerplant.
Tim Montague (06:48):
And one of the one of the key decisions, I think,
in solar plant design that getsmade is, are you going to do a
distributed or a skiddedapproach? Distributed you? And
this is an advantage and anoption. It with string
inverters, right? You canliterally sprinkle the inverters
out throughout the solar field,typically at the end of rows,
(07:11):
but depends on the design and oryou can do a central version of
that, where you bring all theinverters to a skid, and it's
kind of apples and oranges. Butwhat do you have to say about
that distributed versus skiddeddesign approach?
Luke Schlichte (07:33):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean, the
distributed I think, has a lotof advantages. And, you know, I
like to say that there's no,there's no flat rectangles left
anymore for the utility scaleprojects. So you're going to
have, you know, weird shapedparcels. You're going to have
(07:54):
topography challenges, andthat's really where I think the
distributed approach can beadvantageous. But you know,
similarly, you know, we have alot of EPC partners that want to
be able to have that centralizedapproach, to mimic a central
inverter, but then have thebenefits on the backside of the
(08:15):
ease of ONM, the swap ability ofstring inverters, they want to
have those benefits of, I'd say,our skidded string product was
born out of the feedback and thewant from our EPC partners that
maybe they're participating inin a RFP that's calling for
central inverters. Well, now wecan mimic that with our skidded
(08:36):
string you can, you know, stillcollect all your DC in the
field, use your trunk cable oryour your shoulders VLA, and
then have that single input withour skidded string and be able
to have that that benefit timethere. So you're taking away
that risk of catastrophicdowntime that you have with a
single point of failure in acentral inverter. Yeah,
Tim Montague (08:59):
yeah. We're going to see that theme time and time
again, catastrophic downtimeavoided. That is the key phrase.
What about let's talk a littlemore about the financial impact
of string inverters versuscentral inverters. In our
previous conversation, youreferenced a report from raptor
(09:20):
maps. But what do you say tocustomers about this, regarding
the financial impact of stringversus Central?
Luke Schlichte (09:29):
Yeah, you know, I would say a lot of folks that
I've talked to when I talk tothem about our solutions that
were specifically designed forthe utility scale part of our
industry that are stringinverters. Their interest is
peaked because they've alreadybeen pulling their hair out with
some of the issues surroundingcentral inverters. You know,
(09:52):
whether it is, you know, youknow, we've talked about that
risk of catastrophic downtime,they've lived that category.
Traffic downtime, and it'ssometimes been weeks, months.
I've heard six months or longer.
I've heard of 200 megawattprojects that had 14% uptime
after a year. You know, really,they're already looking for
(10:14):
solutions. So, you know, really,it's, you know, the first
question is the capex, like youmentioned, we're right there.
We're on par, or close to, withcentral inverters. Now, from an
equipment perspective, you know,there are some learning curves
that I hear about when you'redesigning with string versus
(10:37):
central which you know, ourapplications engineering team
will work as an extension oftheir engineering team to help
dial in the design side, to helpwith string sizing, you know,
design optimization. You know,we're here as a resource, and as
you know, we view ourselves as aas a partner for the life of
(11:01):
these projects. So not only onthat front end, but you know
that service is, you know, oneof the main reasons why we've
been able to have the kind ofcustomer retention that we've
had for and enjoyed that numberone spot for market share with
three phase string, really thosethe modular approach combined
(11:22):
with the backstop of the bestservice in the industry, that's
how we're going to ensure thatyour production estimates are
going to be attainable.
Tim Montague (11:34):
The Clean Power Hour is brought to you by CPS
America, maker of NorthAmerica's number one three phase
string inverter with over eightgigawatts shipped in the US. The
CPS product lineup includesstring inverters ranging from 25
kW to 350 kW, their flagshipinverter, the CPS 350 KW is
(11:55):
designed to work with solarplants ranging from two
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balance of system requirementsgo to Chint power systems.com or
(12:17):
call 855-584-7168, 847168, tofind out more, I did some quick
math. And we have a we have afive megawatt project on campus
here in central Illinois, inChampaign, where I live, and it
(12:38):
has central inverters. But I didsome quick math on a five
megawatt inverter, okay, roughlyspeaking, for fixed tilt, which
it's no longer its tracker now,but for fixed tilt, that a five
megawatt inverter is producing500 megawatt hours per month,
it's a lot of juice, and thistranslates into, of course,
(13:00):
savings for those PPA customersthat are buying the power, and
it translates into revenue forthe IPP the asset owner. And
when both of those go away,you're just looking at a hole in
the ground. Basically, it'sreally a pain point. And in this
case, the inverter was down formonths because they couldn't get
a replacement part. And so itwasn't just one month. It was
(13:22):
like four months of downtime.
And you as an asset owner, as anoff taker, you're just not happy
about that. It's just reallypainful. So I do think that's
just a no nonsense way toexplain this to people
Luke Schlichte (13:39):
absolutely well into that. You know, CPS
president, Brian Wagner, helikes to refer to the as the
refer to the inverter as an ATM.
If your ATMs not working, it'snot pumping out cash. So, you
know, when people talk aboutcapex, I try to turn the
conversation to production.
Because, you know, the numberone goal of building a power
(14:01):
plant should be production anduptime. Production is king for
everything that we do. So Ireally think the more as we go,
more and more projects are goingto be going with string
inverters, just because they'regoing to make them more
profitable.
Tim Montague (14:20):
I wonder if for our listeners who are not that
familiar with large stringinverters, what are some of the
innovations that CPS is makingto improve performance,
reliability, serviceability andcost in this space?
Luke Schlichte (14:42):
Yeah, absolutely great question. Well, you've
been to our headquarters inRichardson, Texas. In our
headquarters there, we have ourCPS labs, and as far as I know,
we are the only invertermanufacturer that takes our RMA
and inverters. From ourcustomers, and we study them. We
(15:03):
try to find out what went wrongand what we learn in the lab
there, you know, we're buildingsolutions to be, you know,
included in products goingforward. So lot of innovations
that we've led with in theindustry, one of them being DC
enhanced that came from some ofthat work in CPS lab. So to
(15:25):
that, we're constantly gettingfeedback, and we're receptive,
receptive to feedback from ourclients, because we want to
listen to the market. I wouldsay again, the 350 kilowatt
inverter that is the highestpower inverter string inverter
in the world. It full power full350 kilowatts of power up to 40
(15:51):
5c before it begins to thermallyde rate. That's a higher, I
guess, the D rate number thanour competitors with a similar
sized string inverter. So that'ssomething that's going to ensure
that uptime 15 mppts per 350 sofor a 4.2 megawatt block, that
(16:12):
would be 12 350 kilowattinverters times 15 mppts, you're
talking about a hundreds ofmppts per four megawatt block.
That's advantageous, not only toreduce mismatch losses, but also
now you have granularity in yourdata down to the MPPT level. So
(16:34):
when there is a, you know, itmight, might not be a failure in
the inverter, might be a failureon the string combiner or
tracker level, you're able to toidentify where the issue is much
faster. Having that kind ofinformation, you're not you
know, it's not a needle in ahaystack. Would it would be with
a central inverter and you haveone or maybe four Max MPPT is on
(16:59):
a similar size block.
Tim Montague (17:01):
Yeah, we have to remember, there are other
problems that happen with solarprojects. Is not just inverters
and but having string inverterscan help you zero in on where
the problem is good point. So inthat regard, what are some of
the maintenance and servicingdifferences between string and
central inverters that ourlisteners should know,
Luke Schlichte (17:23):
yeah, that that is huge. And I think everybody
knows that string inverters areeasier, simplified, O M, spare
parts list. We say it's fans,but really we just advise
taking, you know, having ahandful or so spares on site,
(17:44):
because, you know, again, youhave a central inverter fail,
catastrophic downtime. That fourmegawatt block is down. There's
hundreds of spare parts that youhave to have an inventory, and
can be a supply chain constraintthat the industry has seen
before that can lead toprolonged downtime, and then
you're additionally at the mercyof the specialized technician to
(18:07):
perform the repair. Where stringinverters. It's technician level
O and M, and it's a it's a swap,and we're talking less than an
hour to replace that 350kilowatt inverter, it's even
less time than that for some ofour other products, but that
(18:27):
spares on site can swap it intechnician level on them, which,
you know, I can't stress thatenough, as you know, I feel like
the specialized technicians,They are already spread too
thin, and these specializedtechnicians, it's three, $400
per hour. Well, now that allthese you know, huge utility
(18:49):
scale projects of 234, 500 plusmegawatts are becoming more and
more commonplace. We're readingabout every day. What's going to
happen when they have failureissues. And we have these
specialized technicians that arealready spread thin, they're
going to become become even morespread thin. And then we have
(19:10):
labor issues with, you know,electricians and technicians,
not just in the renewablesindustry, but everywhere. So I
think that's going to be we havea looming concern there and
string is gonna, you know, bethe remedy here. In
Tim Montague (19:27):
2023 I wrote an article in PV magazine about a
clana project in, I think it'sBeaverton County, Montana. It's
called Apex solar. It's 105megawatt DC solar project. Oh,
sorry. Beaver head County insouthwestern Montana. And
(19:48):
there's a great quote in herefrom clana CEO. If you're not
familiar with clana, check themout. They're a big global IPP.
But CEO, Jason Ellsworth saysthe prolonged downtown. Time for
repair or replacement can bedetrimental to project
performance, referring to whythey have switched to string
(20:10):
inverters from Central inverter.
So check that article out. Ifyou just Google Montague,
central to string PV magazine,you'll find that article or
reach out to me. Please checkout all of our content. Clean
Power, hour.com, reach out to meon LinkedIn. Luke, what else
should our listeners know aboutyour work and how you work with
customers? Would love to learn alittle more of behind the
(20:31):
scenes. What's it like workingwith Luke schlichty, and what is
your what is your specialty?
What is it that you're lookingfor, the conversations the types
of clients that you're wantingto attract.
Luke Schlichte (20:45):
Yeah, really. I mean, hey, if you have skin in
the game, if you're a long termasset owner, IPP, we are going
to ensure the most amount ofuptime. We're going to make sure
your P 50 estimates areattainable, as you know. And I
think and I think I alreadysaid, we view ourselves as a
(21:05):
partner for the life of yourproject, so we're going to be as
an as invested in theperformance of that project. Is
you. So would love to see how wecan fit in to make your project
more profitable.
Tim Montague (21:23):
And how can our listeners find you, Luke.
Luke Schlichte (21:26):
I can be reached at Luke dot schlichty. That's S,
C, H, L, I, C, H, T, E, at Chimppower.com you can find me on
LinkedIn and DM me.
Tim Montague (21:40):
Awesome. Well, I want to thank Luke schlichty,
head of utility sales for CPSAmerica again, reach out to me
on LinkedIn. I love hearing frommy listeners. Tell a friend
about the show. That's the bestthing you can do to help the
show. And with that, I'll say,let's grow solar and storage.
Thank you so much, Luke.
Luke Schlichte (21:59):
Hey, let's, let's raise the bar for utility
scale solar.
Tim Montague (22:02):
All right, have a great day. You, too. You.
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