Solar ♦ news digest
and the opportunity to utilise its thin-film PV module technology brings with it the increased capability and flexibility needed to be successful in a growing market,” says Ingenero CEO, Steve McRae.
“This year we made the leap into the international solar market, building a complex hybrid off-grid solar power plant on the island of Vava’u, Tonga. These kinds of off-grid applications, as well as commercial and utility scale applications, hold significant growth opportunities internationally,” adds McRae.
“Partnering with a company of this calibre means Ingenero will continue to grow its commercial and utility solar business within Australia and broaden its international footprint while continuing to deliver high quality, innovative solar solutions to its existing and future customer base,” he adds
“In collaborating with Ingenero, Australia’s leading integrator in the small to medium scale solar sector, First Solar is better positioning itself to meet the needs of the commercial and off-grid solar markets in Australia and Asia Pacific,” says First Solar’s Asia Pacific Vice President of Business Development Jack Curtis.
“First Solar’s primary focus has been utility-scale projects and we continue to be the world leader in this market segment. This collaboration will provide us with additional origination and execution diversity in medium-scale projects that will allow us to broaden our accessible demand pool across the region and meet the needs of customers that are looking to utilise our thin- film PV module technology in these types of applications,” he adds.
The First Solar/Ingenero collaboration will provide bankable and economically viable solutions to existing and future customers through the delivery of high-quality service and components as well as innovative, fully-engineered solutions tailor-designed for each project.
Amonix III-V solar cell hits 35.9 percent module efficiency
Data for the rating was generated by an Amonix module under outdoor test at NREL from late Februar to April of this year.
Amonix has manufactured a III-V based solar cell which achieved a National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) efficiency rating of 35.9 percent under recently adopted CPV IEC test conditions of 1000 W/m2 and 25°C cell temperature.
Amonix says the result is the highest ever independently rated module efficiency for any PV technology and is the first time NREL quantified the rating for a concentrator module with the cells at 25°C instead of at operating temperature.
Amonix worked with NREL to help mature this measurement process. Amonix ‘s last solar module set a an efficiency of 34.9 percent at CSOC (concentrator standard operating conditions) in April, 2013. The firm claims this was the first to break 33
percent CSOC module efficiency in May 2012.
“This 35.9 percent IEC CSTC module efficiency is a direct comparison to PV module efficiencies, which are often reported at IEC standard test conditions,” says Vahan Garboushian, Amonix Founder and CTO.
Garboushian continues, “With the advent of higher efficiency cells from companies like Solar Junction, Amonix anticipates achieving considerably higher module efficiencies and breaking our currently standing world records in the very near future.”
First Solar to construct CdTe
plant in California In its first 10 year PPA for a municipal utility, the cadmium telluride cell manufacturer will create up to 200 jobs at its California factory
First Solar and the City of Roseville, California have signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) for 32MWAC of solar electricity to be generated at the Lost Hills photovoltaic power plant that First Solar is developing and will construct in Kern County, California.
The 10-year PPA is First Solar’s first such agreement with a municipal utility, and is effective in 2015. The PPA was approved by the Roseville City Council on July 17th, 2013.
The Lost Hills project construction could start in early 2014, and is expected to create up to 200 jobs at its peak.
“We are proud to add this project to Roseville Electric’s portfolio,” says Brian Kunz, First Solar’s Vice President of Project Development. “It will help the city reach its state renewable energy goals, while giving residents the benefit of clean, affordable electricity.”
Roseville Electric purchased 325,000 MWH of renewable energy for $24 million for 10 years. The contract cost $6.5 million less than similar renewable energy purchase offers in 2012.
“We are pleased to acquire renewable electricity to help us reach the state’s requirement for 33 percent by 2020,” comments Roseville Electric Utility Director Michelle Bertolino. “As a community-owned utility, contracts such as this help minimise the cost impact on our customers while maintaining highly reliable service.”
Under the agreement, Roseville will receive 100 percent of the Lost Hills power plant’s output for the first four years of the agreement; it will then decline to a smaller percentage of the output. First Solar has an additional PPA for Lost Hills’ output with Pacific Gas and Electric, which goes into effect in 2019.
In its first year, Lost Hills will produce enough clean, renewable energy to power more than 11,000 homes, offsetting more than 20,000 metric tons of CO2 annually, which is the equivalent of taking about 4,000 cars off the road each year, and displacing over 18,000 metric tons of water consumption.
August/September 2013
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