APS America names Michael Ludgate ‹new Vice President for Business Development

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SEATTLE — APS America, a global leader in solar micro inverter technology, has hired Michael Ludgate as Vice President for Business Development.

“We’re gratified to attract someone of Michael’s caliber,” said Kelly Samson, APS America CEO. “Michael knows the solar market, and he’s well known in the industry. He’ll be a dynamic presence as we establish new strategic partnerships for sales and growth.”
Ludgate comes to APS America with over six years in the solar industry, and will lead the company’s sales, business partnership and engagement strategy. Previously, Ludgate served as Senior Director of Sales and Marketing for Sharp’s Solar Energy Solutions Group and Kyocera Solar. As a member of the senior leadership team there, Ludgate successfully developed more than 45MW of commercial solar installations.

michael-apsBefore joining the solar market, he held senior management positions in the high technology sector (20+ years) including Intel Corporation (Managing Director for Storage and Industrial Automation); Hewlett-Packard (head of marketing for two startup initiatives); and Iomega Corporation (General Manager for the $1B Zip storage division).

Michael knows the solar market, and he’s well known in the industry. He’ll be a dynamic presence as we establish new strategic partnerships for sales and growth.” – Kelly Samson, APS America CEO

Ludgate earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from York University (with distinction). He is also the Judging Chair (AZ) for the Clean Tech Open in the Rocky Mountain District.

“We are hitting on all cylinders and our third- and fourth-generation products are well received,” Ludgate said of APS. “Aside from the incredible value proposition that we offer with the YC500 micro inverter, launching the industry’s first three-phase microinverter (YC1000) is an exciting milestone.”

Ludgate noted that APS ranked No. 2 in global market share among top microinverter suppliers by shipments in 2013 (Source: GTM Research).

APS Microinverters convert the DC (direct) current generated by rooftop solar panels into the AC (alternating) current of home appliances and the surrounding power grid. Unlike conventional “string” inverters, which channel all the output from a solar array through a single unit, APS Microinverters allow monitoring and management of individual panels in a solar array. APS ’ proprietary, chip-based architecture ensures maximum system efficiency and power output in all conditions.

The company’s flagship product is the YC500 microinverter, a powerful unit that handles two solar (PV) panels simultaneously. The new YC1000-3, a groundbreaking microinverter supporting 3-phase power, is an APS exclusive.

Based near Seattle, APS America supplies and services APS products in North America. APS was founded in Silicon Valley in 2009 and is now a global leader in the development, manufacturing and marketing of solar microinverters based on their own leading-edge technology.

For information on APS solar microinverter products, see www.apsamerica.com or call 206-855-5100.

MEET THE APS TEAM AT SOLAR POWER COLORADO, FEB. 24-26

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APS is bringing its advanced microinverter technology to the 2014 Solar Power Colorado conference, Feb. 24-26.coseia_conf_500x1401Paul Barlock, APS America Senior VP, and Michael Ludgate, VP for Business Development, will present the APS product line to installers and distributors at the annual conference sponsored by the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association. This year’s event is being held at the Omni Resort and Conference Center in Broomfield, CO.“We’re going to COSEIA in response to the customer requests coming in to APS ,” Michael Ludgate says. “The word is getting out that APS is a microinverter innovator and in the top tier globally in microinverter units shipped.”

APS is on an aggressive growth curve in 2014, bringing our advanced microinverter technology to new markets across the US. Our flagship product is the YC500A, a two-panel, dual-MPPT microinverter with 500W maximum output. APS is poised to release the groundbreaking YC1000-3 microinverter, a 3-phase, 4-panel unit for large-scale commercial applications – breakthrough technology available only from APS.

Installers and distributors can email the APS team directly at paul@apsamerica.com and michael@apsamerica.com to meet with them during Solar Power Colorado.  Find out more about the APS line of advanced microinverter products at www.apsamerica.com or email sales@apsamerica.com.

For information on the 2014 Solar Power Colorado event, see www.coseia.org.

APS announces product recognition and promotion of exec to Sr. VP – Kitsap Business Journal

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February 13, 2014 @ 12:05amIn advance of the first-quarter 2014 rollout of a new solar energy microinverter by APS , the manufacturer’s YC1000-3 microinverter was recognized by Solar Power World magazine on its Top 100 Solar Products of 2013. The YC1000-3 is the world’s first three-phase, four-panel microinverter for large-scale commercial solar installations.Barlock-Paul-2703_small
The new product is a single unit that connects four solar modules (up to 310W STC each) to provide from 208V to 480V three-phase grid voltage. It maximizes power generation for each module to boost efficiency by up to 20 percent. The performance of each module can be individually monitored from a home computer.Find out more about the YC1000-3 by contacting APS at sales@apsamerica.com, or download the product spec sheets on the company’s website. APS America also announced the promotion of Paul Barlock to Senior Vice President. He will manage the company’s sales team and development of strategic partnerships.Barlock has been a senior sales and marketing executive in a variety of power electronics firms, ranging from startups to large multinational corporations. His work experience has been in custom power supply design, UPS, telecom power, cable TV backup power, and most recently in renewable energy. Barlock, a Marine veteran, holds an undergraduate degree in physics from the University of Pittsburgh and an MBA from Boston College.

“We’re moving the market into areas that have not been penetrated,” Barlock said of the APS line of innovative solar microinverter products. “Our innovative technology is driving the market to a different, larger microinverter model, and at a lower cost.”

Grow Community Solar Install

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1532073_1415812715330604_135963020_o-199x300Grow Community on Bainbridge Island is the largest planned, solar-ready neighborhood in Washington state. With an array of APS Microinverters and Itek PV panels planned on over 50 neighborhood roofs, each producing up to 7,680 watts of power per residential system. The solar on each Grow Community home will save between 2.5 and 3 tons of coal per year. Here are some pictures from this weeks solar install by A&R Solar.