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A recently released Guidehouse Insights leaderboard report marked Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) as the world’s leading vendor of microgrid control systems. The previous leaderboard report, released in 2018 by Navigant Research (now Guidehouse Insights), also scored SEL as the global market leader.

The new 2021 leaderboard report summarized the competitive advantages of SEL as “faster response time than traditional programmable logic controllers, inertia-compensated load shedding, and digital relays that are adaptable to changing fault conditions.”

It also noted that SEL powerMAX microgrid control technology “has garnered high praise from governments and academic testing entities based on its ability to manage complex DER [distributed energy resource] portfolios in real time.”

To arrive at the composite leaderboard scores in the 2021 report, Guidehouse Insights identified the 16 providers with the greatest market impact and evaluated their strengths in strategy and execution. Both strategy and execution consist of several sub-score metrics, which are weighted and averaged to yield the total.

SEL had the report’s highest aggregated execution score at 89.3.

“We developed the powerMAX control system with power system algorithms proven over decades in the field,” said SEL Engineering Services director Niraj Shah. “These advanced algorithms are the key to its reliability, scalability and integration with existing electrical infrastructure. They allow us to tailor the control system to each unique microgrid application.”

The microgrid controls market is intensely competitive; strong new innovators have emerged, and some companies that were on the 2018 leaderboard failed to meet the threshold for inclusion in the 2021 report. SEL’s position atop both leaderboard reports highlights the strength of the company’s control system offerings and its staying power in a rapidly evolving marketplace.

SEL manufactures, develops and tests all the components of its microgrid control systems—protective relays, automation controllers, communications equipment, cybersecurity solutions, and software—in its own secure facilities in the USA.

Guidehouse Insights, a leading market research group, produces its leaderboard reports “to present an objective, unbiased view of market opportunities.” Its analysis predicts massive growth in the microgrid controls market, with spending expected to top $2 billion in the next ten years.

To learn more about SEL microgrid control systems, visit the microgrid control solutions webpage.