A Forum run by Enthusiasts of MidNite Solar

Here's a nice little article from a small-ish local newspaper.  It was written pretty well too, actually.
boB

http://www.northcountyoutlook.com/business/article.exm/2011-08-24_manufacturers_invest_in_innovative_technologies_and_job_creation

Here is another article that came out a few months ago in the Puget Sound Business Journal...

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/print-edition/2011/03/18/puget-sound-solar-supply-sales-sizzle.html

boB

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

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

just googled around a bit and did find this:
http://www.hardysolar.com/inverter/inverter-history.html

Hope this is OK ... More later, Vic

Too true

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.

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 .....   :-[

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/

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

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.

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

who said anything about liquid gold?

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. 

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

wxboy,
isn't it an odd feeling to be in communication with the designers of this stuff? they have kept a good repour with those that are end users and have kept up actual back and forth conversations that not only helped us, the end users, but it helped them to know what was needed and wanted for the products to be made. they actually do listen to us and that is great of them to do as you do know they are quite busy. i actually have felt guilty at times with my impositions to them and they were still willing to devote time to me as they do for you and everybody here on this forum. i can't stop there because they do this on other forums as well and as a moderator (on naws) that needs to read over content of all posts i can tell you this takes a great deal of time to read everything let alone respond to posts. many frequented the forums before business ventures were started as they have a keen interest in the subject matter too. this is a rare thing in today's world to have the caliber of people in a company such as midnite solar and is one i appreciate greatly and i hope you do too for isn't it odd to tell your father you are in communication with those that helped design and make some of the stuff he remembers? they haven't stopped making this stuff, are making it better, and they actually enjoy it to a degree. this is a rare business amongst businesses. :)

edit to add; in retrospect it almost sounds like i need to clean off my nose, but this is truly how i feel.

Robin, my dad's inverter is the Trace U2512SB.  He has had it for a long time and is just now hooking it up to his house as a quieter alternative to the generator at night(although he has a Honda EU6500 generator which is super quiet).  Thank you for your response.

Niel, I agree with everything you said and I am grateful for the help that Midnite Solar and all of it's staff provide to their customers.  I've purchased great products in the past, since I always try to buy what I feel is the best, but I've never seen a company so open and available to the end users.