There’s been a surge in investment and entrepreneurial activity inthe inverter and power conditioning circuitry that supportsphotovoltaic energy conversion. Since the beginning of 2009, five firmshave received more than $63 million in funding and a large public firm(National Semiconductor) has officially unveiled its BoS product afteracquiring a related technology startup (ACT Solar). More than $115million in venture capital and more than 15 companies have entered thissector since 2005.

We noted the U.K.-based microinverter startup Enecsys in our recent Greentech Innovations Report.According to the Cambridge Evening News, the firm just announced a $10million round A led by Wellington Partners with participation fromBankInvest New Energy Solutions of Copenhagen. It was founded in 2003and received $500,000 in seed funding from The Carbon Trust with IPfrom the University of Cambridge.

There are a number ofmicroinverter firms attempting to come to market in additon to Enecys.Enphase has a clear and early lead over what is becoming a crowdedfield, having shipped more than 30,000 units. Here’s the list:

•     Accurate Solar
•     Array Converter
•     Azuray
•     Enecsys
•     Enphase
•     GreenRay Solar
•     Larankelo
•     Petra Solar
•     SolarBridge
•     Sympagis

Microinverters offer improved energy harvest and improved monitoring capabilities for residential and commercial PV deployments.

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