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US acquisition expands Yaskawa’s PV inverter business
Published:  18 July, 2014

The Japanese inverter and robotics manufacturer Yaskawa Electric has expanded into the US solar energy market by buying the photovoltaic (PV) inverter manufacturer, Solectria Renewables. Massachusetts-based Solectria, which produces high-performance PV inverters for residential, commercial and utility-scale power systems, will operate as a Yaskawa subsidiary.

Yaskawa already has a leading position in the Japanese low-power PV inverter market. It says that it will bring scale, global sales manufacturing facilities and diversification, to Solectria, while Solectria will bring more than 25 years of power electronics experience – ten of them dedicated to the PV industry – and an in-depth knowledge of medium- and high-voltage PV products to Yaskawa.

“This is an effort to broaden Yaskawa’s exposure in the renewable energy market and expand the use of our technology expertise,” says Yaskawa America’s president and chief operating officer, Mike Knapek. “Solectria has built a strong and successful organisation in the solar inverter market over the past 10 years. The philosophies and strategies of both organisations are highly aligned on enabling sales growth and market expansion through superior customer experiences.”

Solectria employs more than 170 people in the US. Its products include 1.8–750kW grid-tied inverters for PV systems from 1kW to many megawatts.

Solectria's PV inverter portfolio includes systems for domestic and utility-scale applications

Since Yaskawa Electric was founded in 1915, the company – now worth $3.6bn – has shipped more than 20 million AC inverters, 13 million servodrives and 290,000 robots worldwide.