Solar Industry Gets Aid to Fight Shade

Tag : Electrical Panels

Shade is a perennial problem for the solar-power industry, but aSilicon Valley chip maker thinks it can help.
National Semiconductor Corp. on Monday plans to announce technologythat is designed to sharply reduce the impact of partial shading onsolar panels, which generate electricity from sunlight.
The technology, dubbed SolarMagic, is being tested by REgrid PowerInc., a company in Campbell, Calif., that installs solar panels.Tom McCalmont, REgrid's chief executive officer, estimatesSolarMagic can recoup as much as 40% of the power that otherwisewould be lost to partial.