SolarMagic
title: "SolarMagic" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["electrical-power-control"] topic_path: "general/electrical-power-control" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SolarMagic" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
SolarMagic is a subsidiary brand of Texas Instruments, selling electronics for photovoltaic (PV) systems. It was established in 2008 as a subsidiary brand of National Semiconductor. The brand name was carried through when TI purchased National Semiconductor in 2011.
Products
The original SolarMagic device was a proprietary brand of power optimizer, a device which isolates the output from each PV-module from the rest of the system, preventing loss of performance by a single module from affecting the rest of the array. Because of the electronic characteristics of solar arrays, real-world conditions such as partial/temporary shading and irregular panel performance can lead to disproportionate and excessive losses of power output from the system. In one study, shading over a day of between 8% and 16% of the PV system surface area led to relative array power losses of between 35% and 40%. Despite National Semiconductor advertisement claims that their power optimizer could recoup up to 57% of the power lost as a result of these phenomena, real-world results typically ranged between 1% and 6% of overall system output improvement.
References
References
- (30 June 2008). "National Semiconductor Enters Photovoltaic Market with Technology That Maximizes Solar Energy Production".
- Wilson, R. "National Semiconductor protects solar panels from shadows", ElectronicsWeekly.com, 2009-03-05: Retrieved on 2009-03-10: http://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2009/03/05/45608/national-semiconductor-protects-solar-panels-from-shadows.htm, ElectronicsWeekly.com, 2009-03-05.
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