Local Arlington newspaper features MidNite and another tech company...

Started by boB, August 27, 2011, 02:34:35 AM

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boB

K7IQ 🌛  He/She/Me

boB

K7IQ 🌛  He/She/Me

Vic

boB,

Inteeresting read on MN's growth.   Good Going!

There may be a history of Solar Equipment manufacturers of the Pacific Notth West,  but I've not seen it.

I have always marveled at ALL of the Solar EQ vendors who are,  or have been in the
PNW.  You know,  Stat Power,  Heart,  and all of the later ones ( Trace, X, Magnum, MN and the others that I've not followed) ...  I have wondered if you and Robin have been involved with or started many of these companies (?) ...  Know about Trace/X,  and some involvement with you at Magnum  and so on,  but these are just fragments in my understanding.

You are very busy now,   BUT,  do you know of such a history of the PNW Solar Power industry?  Would love to read it,  just for personal edification.

Thanks,  73,  Vic
Off Grid - Sys 1: 2ea SW+ 5548, Surrette 4KS25 1280 AH, 5.25 KW PV, Classic 150,WB, Beta Barcelona, Beta KID
Sys 2: SW+ 5548s, 4KS25s, 5.88 KW PV, 2 ea. Classic 150, WB, HB CC-needs remote Monitoring/Control, site=remote.
 MN Bkrs/Bxs/Combiners. Thanks MN for Great Products/Svc/Support&This Forum!!

nigel

I concurr would be interesting to know a little more history. Nigel

Vic

Off Grid - Sys 1: 2ea SW+ 5548, Surrette 4KS25 1280 AH, 5.25 KW PV, Classic 150,WB, Beta Barcelona, Beta KID
Sys 2: SW+ 5548s, 4KS25s, 5.88 KW PV, 2 ea. Classic 150, WB, HB CC-needs remote Monitoring/Control, site=remote.
 MN Bkrs/Bxs/Combiners. Thanks MN for Great Products/Svc/Support&This Forum!!


KevinG

Quote from: Vic on September 01, 2011, 12:28:52 PM
boB,

Inteeresting read on MN's growth.   Good Going!

There may be a history of Solar Equipment manufacturers of the Pacific Notth West,  but I've not seen it.

I have always marveled at ALL of the Solar EQ vendors who are,  or have been in the
PNW.  You know,  Stat Power,  Heart,  and all of the later ones ( Trace, X, Magnum, MN and the others that I've not followed) ...  I have wondered if you and Robin have been involved with or started many of these companies (?) ...  Know about Trace/X,  and some involvement with you at Magnum  and so on,  but these are just fragments in my understanding.

You are very busy now,   BUT,  do you know of such a history of the PNW Solar Power industry?  Would love to read it,  just for personal edification.

Thanks,  73,  Vic
My belated mentor, Louis Valenta told me it had to do with the recreational agriculture being close by.  Robin even mentions that in his story about the evolution from Heart/Trace/Outback and finally Midnite.

boB

Quote from: KevinG on February 23, 2012, 05:46:16 PM
Quote from: Vic on September 01, 2011, 12:28:52 PM
boB,

Inteeresting read on MN's growth.   Good Going!

There may be a history of Solar Equipment manufacturers of the Pacific Notth West,  but I've not seen it.

I have always marveled at ALL of the Solar EQ vendors who are,  or have been in the
PNW.  You know,  Stat Power,  Heart,  and all of the later ones ( Trace, X, Magnum, MN and the others that I've not followed) ...  I have wondered if you and Robin have been involved with or started many of these companies (?) ...  Know about Trace/X,  and some involvement with you at Magnum  and so on,  but these are just fragments in my understanding.

You are very busy now,   BUT,  do you know of such a history of the PNW Solar Power industry?  Would love to read it,  just for personal edification.

Thanks,  73,  Vic
My belated mentor, Louis Valenta told me it had to do with the recreational agriculture being close by.  Robin even mentions that in his story about the evolution from Heart/Trace/Outback and finally Midnite.


I miss Louis .....   :-[


K7IQ 🌛  He/She/Me

Robin

We all miss Louis. He had more design experience than most people in the business, yet he was never allowed to be on the wrenches list? Not qualified was the reason. Boy is that statement untrue!

Here is another history of the North west inverter companies on the Sierra Solar site. This one is a little more up to date and even has pictures. We really did accomplish some great things back then. Of course to boB and me, we were just having fun. We were young! I hope we are doing great things now too. We have 9 engineers working on all sorts of stuff. I am pretty excited about the things in development. I sure hope we don't have to wait another 40 years to see how effective these efforts were. We presently have the best group of engineers we have ever worked with and we have worked with some great guys.

http://www.sierrasolar.com/biography-off-grid-inverter-robin-gudgel/
Robin Gudgel

Vic

Hi Robin,

Thanks for posting this latest link.   A great read and helps fill in some more blanks for me,  at least.   Thanks again,  and keep up the great work!  Vic
Off Grid - Sys 1: 2ea SW+ 5548, Surrette 4KS25 1280 AH, 5.25 KW PV, Classic 150,WB, Beta Barcelona, Beta KID
Sys 2: SW+ 5548s, 4KS25s, 5.88 KW PV, 2 ea. Classic 150, WB, HB CC-needs remote Monitoring/Control, site=remote.
 MN Bkrs/Bxs/Combiners. Thanks MN for Great Products/Svc/Support&This Forum!!

Westbranch

I , for one, am mystified by why there has been so much innovation in the PV field from an area where, probably , the most common comment could have been''It will never work here (in the PNW) because there isn't enough SUN to make it work....

Boy did you guys (and some others) show them to be wrong, soooooo wrong... 

Thanks!    and keep up the great work(s), nothing like a little adversity to spark the innovation juices to flow.
KID FW1811 560W >C&D 24V 900Ah AGM
CL150 29032 FW V.2126-NW2097-GP2133 175A E-Panel WBjr, 3Px4s 140W > 24V 900Ah AGM,
2 Cisco WRT54GL i/c DD-WRT Rtr, NetGr DS104Hub
Cotek ST1500 Inv  want a 24V  ROSIE Inverter
OmniCharge3024  Eu1/2/3000iGens
West Chilcotin 1680+W to come

boB

Quote from: Westbranch on March 14, 2012, 11:43:24 PM
I , for one, am mystified by why there has been so much innovation in the PV field from an area where, probably , the most common comment could have been''It will never work here (in the PNW) because there isn't enough SUN to make it work....

Boy did you guys (and some others) show them to be wrong, soooooo wrong... 

Thanks!    and keep up the great work(s), nothing like a little adversity to spark the innovation juices to flow.


Please....  Keep telling people about the rain !!

boB

K7IQ 🌛  He/She/Me

Westbranch

KID FW1811 560W >C&D 24V 900Ah AGM
CL150 29032 FW V.2126-NW2097-GP2133 175A E-Panel WBjr, 3Px4s 140W > 24V 900Ah AGM,
2 Cisco WRT54GL i/c DD-WRT Rtr, NetGr DS104Hub
Cotek ST1500 Inv  want a 24V  ROSIE Inverter
OmniCharge3024  Eu1/2/3000iGens
West Chilcotin 1680+W to come

Wxboy

I may be getting off topic here but since Trace was mentioned it reminded me of a question my dad wanted me to ask on the Forum.  He(dad) has an old Trace 2500 series inverter/charger and was wondering if Robin was involved in designing those inverters. 
Midnite Classic 150, 765 watt array, Outback Radian GS4048A inverter, 200ah 48v agm battery bank

Robin

I was the mechanical engineer for the U series. Was it the U2512?
I was the mechanical engineer on the DR series. We had a DR2412. It was actually 2500 watts, but we already had too many 2500 watt models so I called it a 2412
I was the mechanical engineer on the SW series. We had a SW2512 and a PS2512.
What other 2500 watt inverters did we make? I was there from 1990 to 2000. We made a lot of very good products during that time.
Thanks,
Robin
Robin Gudgel