PHOTON International The Photovoltaic Magazine

Xantrex expands GT series for US and European markets

At the Solar Power 2005 conference held in Washington, DC in early October, Canadian inverter manufacturer Xantrex presented two new on-grid inverters – the GT 2.5 and GT 3.3.

	© Xantrex Technology, S.L.
The new GT series from Xantrex: After being introduced in North America at the end of last year and in Spain at the beginning of this year, since October a version is now also available for the European market.

A little later in the same month, Xantrex also announced the introduction of two new models for the European markets: the GT 2.5 – released in Germany – and the GT 3.8, launched in Germany and Spain.

All these inverters are based on the 3 kW device GT 3.0 the company launched in North America last year (see PI 12/2004, p. 50) and in Spain in February.

The smallest model has an AC nominal power of 2.3 kW, the medium version 3.3 kW, and the largest version 3.5 kW. Although all three devices only have a passive cooling system, the manufacturer states that the units can work at full capacity at an ambient temperature of up to 45 ºC. They are suited for inside and outside use with a temperature range of between -25 ºC and +65 ºC thanks to NEMA 3 R rating (in Europe, protection type IP 54). The peak efficiency is given as 94.8 percent for the smallest model, 94.6 percent for the medium, and 95.3 percent for the biggest model. The European efficiency is less than 1 percentage point below this figure – which is a very good efficiency for an inverter without a transformer.

The GT 3.3, which is only available in North America, is offered not only for the 240 V grid, but also for a 208 V grid, whereas the peak efficiency is 0.6 percentage points lower (94.7 percent). While the US versions have a wiring box and meets UL and IEEE connection guidelines, the European version comes with plug connectors and meets German connection guideline VDE 0126 and Spain's Royal Decree 1663/2000.

Other features of the product are an LCD and an RS 232 PC interface. In Germany, the GT 2.5DE model is available at a net price of €1,625 ($1,960) and the GT 3.8DE for €2,175 ($2,620); the recommended retail prices for the North American models are $2,275 for the GT 2.5 and $2,775 for the GT 3.3. The guarantee period is for five years, though this can be extended to 10 years for an extra fee. The units have been available since the beginning of October.

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Xantrex Technology Inc.
8999 Nelson Way
Burnaby, BC V5A 45B, Canada
phone +1/604/4228595, fax 4201591
customerservice@xantrex.com
www.xantrex.com