Solar ♦ news digest
The company’s technology, which is designed for use by large-scale solar power plants in hot and arid regions, is claimed to provide the highest efficiency of all solar technologies available. The systems are modular, flexible and have ultra-low water consumption.
After more than six months of operation, the system in Jordan provides an example confirming the excellent results of CPV technology in conditions of extreme heat, sunshine and dust. The average solar-to-grid efficiency reached 21%, with daily peak efficiencies regularly reaching 25% and beyond (2 to 3 times higher than standard photovoltaic installations, even in ambient temperatures of up to 45°C).
The system has been running on a continuous basis, with 100% uptime, demonstrating its reliability in a harsh environment. The measurement data confirm that the annual specific electricity yield will be as high as 2500 kWh/kW of installed nominal AC power. This high value is a result of the site’s high level of direct solar irradiation in combination with the great performance of the system.
“Very high performance even under very high temperatures, and the fact that our systems require no water at all for cooling: these are the two advantages to highlight in the MENA region,” says Hansjörg Lerchenmüller, Senior VP Customer Group of the Solar Energy Business Unit of Soitec. “We have proven with real systems that our technology is best suited for the region, and we are ready for high-volume deployment.”
Due to the very-low-temperature coefficient of their III-V multifunction concentrator solar cells, the performance of CPV systems is much less affected by temperature than any other PV technology, particularly those that are silicon-based. In fact, in extreme heat, silicon-based PV systems, Soitec says, suffer from a three times greater loss in efficiency when compared to systems such as Concentrix CPV technology, which is based on III-V semiconductor materials.
For this reason the technology shows best performance even during summer when electricity demand is particularly high due to air conditioning requirement – and all this, without any requirement of cooling water. This makes CPV technology perfectly suited for power plant installations in arid
areas like in the MENA region.
Due to the technology’s high scalability, CPV power plants can be commissioned in phases, thereby shortening the time to operation. In fact, the first units installed and connected to the grid can immediately start to produce energy, even while the installation of subsequent systems is in progress. Once operational, CPV’s peak production hours align with the region’s peak electricity demands from air conditioning.
Emcore Awarded $10 Million Solar Contract by NASA
The MMS mission will power four spacecrafts with Emcore’s highest efficiency ZTJ solar cells.
Emcore, a leading provider of compound semiconductor-based components and subsystems for the fiber optic and solar power markets has been awarded a contract by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, Maryland to manufacture, test, and deliver solar panels for the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission. The contract, with options, is valued at approximately $10 million.
Emcore expects to deliver a total of 32 solar panels using its ZTJ solar cells to power 4 separate MMS spacecrafts. With a sunlight-to-electricity conversion efficiency nearing 30%, the ZTJ solar cell is one of the highest performance space qualified multi- junction solar cells available in the market today. Production of the solar panels will take place at Emcore’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities located in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
“This NASA contract is a significant award for Emcore,” said Christopher Larocca, Chief Operating Officer of Emcore. “Under a previous contract, we successfully delivered solar panels for NASA GSFC’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission, which is currently powering the spacecraft orbiting the Moon. Winning this new contract accelerates Emcore’s efforts to be the premier supplier of solar panels for demanding spacecraft power systems.”
Emcore is one of the world’s largest manufacturers January / February 2011
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