61 -- Alernating Current (AC) Photovoltaic (PV) Building Block

Sandia National Laboratories is seeking partnership relationships, consisting of a combined license with funds-in CRADA agreements with third parties to enable further development of Alternating Current (AC) Photovoltaic (PV) Building Block technology as described in US patent # 6750391. The successful partner will have demonstrated ability in developing and bringing to market photovoltaic assemblies and systems. The Alternating Current (AC) Photovoltaic (PV) Building Block or the AC PV Building Block is a fully integrated photovoltaic package that can be used as a photovoltaic power source that has only ac power out. It can be used in or as single AC PV Building Block modules and/or as arrays. It is constructed such that the assembly combines, contains and integrates all of the electrical and mechanical elements of a photovoltaic array and provides the required protection for the distributed ac conductors of the system. It eliminates all of the dc voltage concerns of today?s photovoltaic systems by containing the dc within the AC PV building block structures. And then within the same structures it provides conversion of the dc power produced by the photovoltaic module to ac power that is fully compatible with ac utility grids, mini-grids or small stand-alone and hybrid power as required by the application. It is compatible with all known photovoltaic module technologies and photovoltaic module designs. Concentrator PV modules using generally low concentration are also compatible. The AC PV Building Block offers an excellent method for listing and certifying complete PV systems and provides a truly plug-n-play option for installing PV systems.