April 29, 2025

Solar Inverter Technology with Evan Upshur, CPS America | EP284

Show Notes
Transcript

Today on the Clean Power Hour, Tim Montague welcomes back Evan Upshur from CPS America for a discussion on the latest innovations in solar inverter technology. Evan shares why CPS America continues to be a leader in the solar industry with their reliable, versatile products and exceptional customer service.

Evan emphasizes the importance of versatility in their product line, particularly highlighting their 100kW 480V inverter and new 200kW model with a centralized wire box. These solutions are especially valuable for the rapidly growing community solar market, where seamless integration with utility-provided 480V transformers eliminates redundancy and simplifies installation. The conversation explores how CPS's research and development team focuses on refining proven technology while incorporating innovations that make solar systems more efficient and easier to build.

Beyond just hardware, Evan discusses how CPS America's commitment to customer service, readily available UL-listed products, and efficient supply chain have contributed to their success. With expanding capabilities including AC combiners, medium voltage transformers, and energy storage solutions, CPS now offers comprehensive DC to AC conversion for both energy storage and PV applications.

Whether you're a solar developer, installer, or industry professional, this episode provides valuable insights into what makes CPS America a trusted partner for solar projects of all sizes. Tune in to learn how versatility in design and application is driving the next generation of solar technology.

Connect with Evan Upshur

Evan Upshur

CPS America

Support the show

Connect with Tim

Clean Power Hour
Clean Power Hour on YouTube
Tim on Twitter
Tim on LinkedIn

Email tim@cleanpowerhour.com

Review Clean Power Hour on Apple Podcasts

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

The Clean Power Hour is produced by the Clean Power Consulting Group and created by Tim Montague. Please subscribe on your favorite audio platform and on Youtube: bit.ly/cph-sub | www.CleanPowerHour.com | contact us by email: CleanPowerHour@gmail.com | Speeding the energy transition!

WEBVTT

00:00:00.419 --> 00:00:03.359
Yeah, I think it just comes down to versatility.

00:00:03.600 --> 00:00:30.030
You know, a product like this, and a lot of the other inverters in the that we offer, they're versatile. Like, for instance, the inverters can tie in for delta or y interconnections. A lot of them, the neutral is optional, so it's just expanding your versatility. So you could have 10 different projects, and our product line will work for all of them, just because the product is so versatile.

00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:45.359
Are you speeding the energy transition here at the Clean Power Hour, our host, Tim Montague bring you the best in solar, batteries and clean technologies every week want to go deeper into decarbonization.

00:00:41.189 --> 00:00:55.469
We do too. We're here to help you understand and command the commercial, residential and utility, solar, wind and storage industries. So let's get to it together. We can speed the energy transition.

00:00:56.799 --> 00:01:15.819
We're here at inner solar San Diego in the CPS booth, and I'm with Evan Upshur, who is out of the Detroit area, and he's repeat guests on the show. Welcome back. Evan, yeah, thank you for having me. Always good to see you. And so much action here in the CPS booth, you have a very popular booth.

00:01:15.819 --> 00:01:16.810
Evan, why is that?

00:01:17.219 --> 00:01:29.599
Man, I think it's because we got a great team, everyone on all ends, you know, from, you know, the upfront sales, obviously, to the service, to the marketing. I mean, we're firing on all cylinders. Yeah,

00:01:29.599 --> 00:01:41.319
the team is amazing. Yeah, you're so friendly, you're very service oriented. The technology is great. You got to have good tech, right, yeah, and it's, but it's a both end, right?

00:01:41.799 --> 00:01:56.918
Yeah. I mean, all these systems that people are talking about all week and, you know, throughout the year, as they grow their businesses, you know, they're meant to produce power for 25 years. So, you know, it's great, if everything's good on the front end, you got a good price and all that. But really, that service end, on the back end.

00:01:56.918 --> 00:02:04.259
And, I mean, it's key, you know, there has to be that foundation there, from a customer service perspective, in order to, you know, grow the business. Yeah,

00:02:04.319 --> 00:02:19.438
so we were just talking about your, you know, a customer you were talking to that you've worked with for several years. I'm curious, what do you think brings customers coming back?

00:02:19.439 --> 00:02:35.120
Yeah. I mean, I think it's a little bit of what I just mentioned about the customer service, but I gotta hand it to like, our research and development team and our application engineering team, because they're finding, you know, products that work, and they're refining them more.

00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:54.699
They're not trying to reinvent the wheel. They're refining the product, but also, you know, continuously analyzing the market, just to make sure that, you know, there's a good mix of what works well and what has worked well, and then kind of sprinkling in the new stuff that helps these systems become just more efficient and more easy to build. Yeah,

00:02:54.699 --> 00:02:57.159
there's a constant evolution of the technology.

00:02:57.340 --> 00:03:10.680
Let's talk about the tech a little bit. We're standing here by the 100 KW 480 inverter with the quote, unquote, distributed wire box, and then the 200 with a centralized wire box. Why is this an important product? Yeah,

00:03:10.680 --> 00:03:37.520
it's an important product because the utility scale, or really community solar market is, you know, developing rapidly. I mean, it's been, it's worked very well. And essentially, you know, the utility, a lot of times in a community solar project, will provide the transformer, and the transformer is 480 volt. So you don't want to have redundancy and have multiple transformers.

00:03:35.000 --> 00:04:00.960
So to have an inverter that outputs 480 volts directly, it just makes for a really seamless tie in. So this particular inverter, the 100 KW 480 did really well in the community solar market, and this is our new inverter. So it's basically an evolution of the 100 kW inverter, double the size, though we're seeing energy density now that, you know, is hard to believe say five years ago. Yeah, yeah, it's true.

00:04:02.099 --> 00:04:20.040
It is amazing that you can get twice as much power out of a box that's one and a half times the size. Yeah. So I'm curious, when you talk to customers here at inner solar, what are some of the things that are top of mind for them?

00:04:21.180 --> 00:04:43.959
I think it is just ease of use and just knowing that the product is actually there. You know, there are a lot of products out here, you know, maybe newer companies, maybe not as, you know, established yet that, you know, they have products that just aren't available yet. I mean, this stuff is actually real. It's, you it's got UL listing, it's, it's, it's available to ship.

00:04:41.139 --> 00:05:11.939
You know, if you have a project, we can get it to you in a matter of weeks, not, you know, months, or hopefully not years and stuff. This is, this is, you know, our bread and butter, you know, goes back to our team, you know, the supply chain. Huge part of of what folks are looking for someone they can depend on, because you can go out and sell a project. And develop a new cool solar project, but if you can't build it, or you have those roadblocks stopping you from getting that final interconnection, it just really becomes hard to make money and continue a sustainable business.

00:05:13.019 --> 00:05:17.038
Tell us a little bit about your trajectory with the company. How long have you been with Chint?

00:05:17.100 --> 00:05:49.540
Yeah, I think it's just over three years now. So I think probably later this year, it'll mark the four years. So just really excited about our mission in terms of just making projects easier to build with our equipment. And we're diversifying quite a bit too. So you know, not only is it just the inverters, but we have the AC combiners now, medium voltage transformers and energy storage, so we can kind of cover the whole DC to AC conversion, whether it's energy storage or or PV. Now, it's pretty sweet.

00:05:49.899 --> 00:05:55.600
What else should our listeners know about your technology or the company in general? Yeah, I

00:05:55.600 --> 00:06:24.800
think, um, it just comes down to versatility. You know, a product like this and a lot of the other inverters in them that we offer. They're versatile. Like, for instance, the inverters can tie in for delta or y interconnections. A lot of them, the neutral is optional, so it's just expanding your versatility. So you could have 10 different projects, and our product line will work for all of them, just because the product is So, you know, versatile.

00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:27.810
I love it, yeah.

00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:36.240
Well, check out all of our content at cleanpowerhour.com Give us a rating and review on Apple or Spotify and follow us on YouTube. Evan, how can our listeners find you?

00:06:36.360 --> 00:06:45.899
I'm obviously on LinkedIn, always glad to connect and meet new people and any trade show hope to be at and see you there.

00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:49.410
I'm Tim Montague, let's grow solar and storage.

00:06:50.670 --> 00:07:41.100
The Clean Power Hour is brought to you by CPS America, maker of North America's number one three phase string inverter with over eight gigawatts shipped in the US. The CPS product lineup includes string inverters ranging from 25 kW to 350 kW, their flagship inverter, the CPS 350 KW is designed to work with solar plants ranging from two megawatts to two gigawatts. CPS is the world's most bankable inverter brand and is America's number one choice for solar plants now offering solutions for commercial utility ESS and Balance of System Requirements, go to chintpowersystems.com or call 855-584-7168, to find out more, you.

Solar Inverter Technology with Evan Upshur, CPS America | EP284

Listen On

Recent Episodes