The premier of British Columbia Christy Clarke inaugurated the new state-of-the-art micro-grid lab at the Xantrex headquarters in Burnaby, British Columbia on Tuesday, July 8. Built at a cost of U.S. $13 million, the 15,000 square foot lab, one of the largest of its kind in North America, has been under construction for the past 24 months. The lab is spread over three floors, houses over 370,000 pounds of equipment and cables, and is powered by its own substation.
“This highly advanced lab is equipped with specialized engineering and reliability test equipment able to cope with extremely high power loads and simulate extreme real-life conditions in which some of our products may have to operate,” says Jill Tipping, CFO and Vice President of Operations for the Xantrex brand at Schneider Electric.
“The new test chambers in the lab can create a variety of thermal and humidity stresses but most notably can do this with a series of sudden and extreme changes stretching the product beyond its expected use,” adds Tipping.
“Xantrex is a pioneering brand in the onboard AC power technology for recreational and commercial applications. Our products are also used in a variety of innovative, community development and disaster relief projects where the need for reliable power is paramount. It is extremely important for us to ensure our products go through 360-degree product reliability and quality testing before they are launched to the market,” says Richard Gaudet, Vice President of Xantrex branded business at Schneider Electric.
