Intelligence Brief
Bi-monthly intelligence brief: May 24 - June 07
7 June 2010
This week’s CPV Today news brief includes: Circadian Solar; OPEL Solar, Tecneira & Exosun; Sunovia & EPIR; SolFocus; Tuscon Electric Power,Fotowatio Renewable Ventures & Bell Independent Power Corp; Spire; Schafer Corporation & Air Force Research Laboratory; and FPL (NextEra) Energy.
Circadian Solar launches test facility in Portugal
Circadian Solar, a European concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) technology developer, has established a new test facility for its CPV solar energy system at Portugal’s University of Lisbon.
The system comprises a 5 m2 tracker, a sub-structure of Circadian Solar’s 30 m2 system (CS30) that is at the heart of its product line. The research tracker allows easy access to the chassis for rapid changes of development modules, but provides the high (<0.4°) tracking accuracy of the standard product.
Ethernet access is provided both for remote control of the tracker from Circadian’s UK headquarters and for transmission of data for performance monitoring and immediate analysis.
The location of the test facility was selected due to the high direct normal solar insolation (DNI) in Portugal and access to the expertise of the solar energy research group, led by Professor António Vallêra, at the University of Lisbon’s science faculty.
Dr Geoffrey Duggan, Research and Development Director of Circadian Solar, said the research tracker at the University of Lisbon is an important test facility, which will greatly enhance Circadian Solar’s development of modules and thin film.
OPEL sees demand spike for CPV products
Connecticut-based OPEL Solar Inc. has reported a sharp increase in requests for quotes on industrial-scale solar power systems in both North America and international markets.
Opel Solar, which produces gallium arsenide and solar concentrating photovoltaic technology, appears to be on a solid growth trajectory. According to OPEL Solar CEO Leon Pierhal, the recent uptick in orders is attributable to its successful completion of a 330kW HCPV utility-grade power plant last October in Spain.
Since then, business has picked up considerably for the Opel International subsidiary. In April, Opal Solar engaged in a 1MW Portuguese HCPV installation with Tecneira S.A of Porto Salvo, Portugal, the renewable energy arm of ProCME Group. The project marks Portugal’s first use of CPV technology.
Both installations are eligible for feed-in-tariffs.
French tracker firm, Exosun, also recently selected OPEL Solar to provide CPV technology for a 1MW HCPV power plant in the south of France. Installation will commence mid-year. Again, the plant will be grid connected, selling electricity to the country’s utility. Deliveries on both the Portuguese and French 1MW projects will begin in second-half 2010.
In a company press release, Pierhal stated that OPEL Solar is in the process of partnering with one of the largest engineering and construction companies in the world to build utility-scale solar power farms in North America. Further details were not disclosed.
Sunovia, EPIR Technologies in contract dispute
Florida-based Solar tech company, Sunovia Energy Technologies, Inc., has warned that a current dispute with EPIR Technologies, Inc. may wind up in the courts.
In an official statement, Sunovia's Chairman and CEO, Carl Smith said: "No lawsuit has been filed by either company but our management has grown concerned that it may be required to commence litigation.”
According to Sunovia, the dispute was triggered by EPIR’s failure to deliver a 1MW to 3MW pilot production facility in early 2010 for solar CPV Cadmium Telluride wafers.
Smith said Sunovia has so far provided more than US$11 million in cash and equity to EPIR. He added that Sunovia has suspended all further capital payments to EPIR until the dispute is resolved.
Smith confirmed that Sunovia will continue to develop the CPV solar system and that it is already in negotiations to secure a replacement solar wafer component for the solar CPV system from an alternate provider, should EPIR fail to fulfill its obligations.
Largest US CPV solar plant online
SolFocus and Victor Valley College in Victorville, California have cut the ribbon on North America’s largest solar power plant using concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) systems.
The 1MW, grid-tied solar power plant will provide roughly 30% of Victor Valley College’s annual energy requirement. The solar micro-generating facility, which consists of 122 SolFocus SF-1100S CPV arrays, will produce approximately 2.6 million kilowatt-hours annually.
From groundbreaking to grid connection, the project, which is spread over a 6 acre site, was up and running in less than three months.
TEP snaps up Tucson’s solar output
Tucson Electric Power (TEP) has agreed to purchase the output of 10 new solar power systems with a combined capacity of 107 MW, which would be developed in the Tucson area.
The projects include three solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays built with fixed, stationary panels, including systems capable of generating 35 MW, 25 MW and 5 MW; four PV arrays that track along a single axis, including one rated at 12 MW, another at 4 MW and two sized at 5 MW apiece; and three concentrating solar power systems that focus sunlight on PV material to improve energy output. One of these systems would be capable of generating 12 MW, while two others would produce up to 2 MW each.
TEP, a subsidiary of UniSource Energy Corporation, has submitted the agreements to the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) for review. The commission’s endorsement would allow developers of the systems to proceed with efforts to finalize financing, secure land rights and clear other necessary hurdles in hopes of completing their projects in time to begin providing power in 2011 or 2012.
The proposed systems would complement two new solar power systems already planned to be built in the Tucson area by January 2012.
Fotowatio Renewable Ventures is building a 25-MW single-axis tracking PV array near Marana, while Bell Independent Power Corp. (BIPC) is building a 5-MW concentrating solar power plant at the University of Arizona’s Science and Technology Park. The ACC has expressed its support for TEP’s agreements to purchase the output of both systems, which will provide enough energy to power more than 6,000 Tucson homes.
Before those systems come online, TEP will add 1.8 MW of capacity this year to its 4.6-MW Springerville Generating Station Solar System, which already is one of the largest grid-tied PV arrays in the United States. The expanded array will generate enough energy to power more than 1,000 Tucson homes.
TEP also will build a 1.6-MW single axis-tracking array in the Tucson area later this year that could be used to support the company’s proposed Bright Tucson Community Solar program. The program, which is awaiting regulatory review, would allow customers to buy 150 kilowatt-hour (kWh) “blocks” of solar energy produced by Tucson-area solar arrays.
The output of these systems will help TEP meet the renewable energy goals established by the ACC through the state’s Renewable Energy Standard (RES). The rules call on TEP and other Arizona utilities to increase their use of renewable power each year until it represents 15 percent of their retail energy in 2025.
Spire to develop solar cells for space
Photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules manufacturer, Spire Corporation, has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Spire Semiconductor, LLC has been awarded a contract from the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to develop high efficiency, multi-junction solar cells for space applications.
The company is currently developing a 42% efficient, 500 sun concentrator cell under a U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory contract.
According to the company, the MDA contract will help to further establish Spire’s expertise in concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) cell technology for both space and terrestrial solar cell applications.
US AirForce selects Schafer for CPV research
Schafer Corporation, a scientific analysis and engineering company, has been selected to lead an industry consortium in a research and development effort to investigate and demonstrate the viability of Concentrated Photovoltaic technology for terrestrial power generation.
As part of the solar generation project, Schafer will build, deploy and test a small array of CPV modules to evaluate performance in a low-latitude island environment while measuring their potential for offsetting the power consumption of the Maui High Performance Computing Center.
The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) contract, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, is focused on the expansion of CPV technology for terrestrial power generation developed in Air Force Space Research and Development programs.
The 100kW-class demonstration site is planned to be located in or near the Maui Research and Technology Park. In conjunction with the project, Rising Sun LLC will install the CPV-arrays, built by EMCORE Corporation of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The Dowling Company and Munekiyo & Hiraga Inc. will provide guidance on land-use, site definition and development and permitting.
CPV to triumph over CSP?
U.S. renewable energy company, FPL Group, says it has greater confidence in photovoltaic solar power generation than in thermal solar, according to Reuters.
"I think that we're going to find increasingly that the market is a PV market," Moray Dewhurst, vice chairman and chief of staff at FPL, said at the Reuters Energy Summit in Houston.
Dewhurst said PV offers greater flexibility as it is more simple in design and is more modular than concentrated solar power technology. He pointed out that cost remains the critical factor when determining which type of solar technology use, followed by systems reliability and availability.
"We approach the solar business the same way we approach the wind business," he said. "We're quite happy to work with a variety of (module manufacturers)."
FPL is currently changing its name to NextEra Energy. The company operates 148 megawatts of solar power and more than 7,500 MW of wind energy.
