Soitec Group acquires Concentrix Solar

Good Energies and Abengoa Solar, S.A. find a €34 million Concentrated PhotoVoltaic (CPV) exit.

“Soitec expands into the fast growing solar energy market with the acquisition of Concentrix Solar, the leading provider of CPV solar systems for the industrial production of energy” (Deutsch) with the transaction closing Friday, December 11, 2009. Soitec SA (EPA:SOI) CEO and President Dr. André-Jacques Auberton-Hervé commented on the announcement via a same day conference call (webcast replay available until December 18, 2009) joined by the Director of the Fraunhofer ISE Professor Eicke Weber and Concentrix Solar CEO Hansjörg Lerchenmüller. I recommend reviewing the longer version of the matched presentation, Soitec Enters Fast Growing Concentrated Photovoltaic Market. Read More >>

SPI 09: Concentrating PhotoVoltaics Highlights

CPV News from MASDAR trumps Solar Power International 09.

I was looking forward to the SPI 09 Concentrating Photovoltaics (CPV) session moderated by Greentech Media Senior Analyst Eric Wesoff. For once, I had a few questions prepared in advance. When I sat down, I thought I was being mercenary sitting right next to the microphone front and center. However, as questions were opened to the floor, I still had to rush to beat out two other inquisitors to ask the first question.

SolFocus, Inc. Q: Ed Gunther (moi!) said: “I have a question for Mr. Crowley. I was wondering if you could give us an update on the project with the Samaras Group. I believe it was supposed to start installing in the summer, and there’s supposed be power delivery by

Solar Light Flashes: 24th EU PVSEC Edition

Select Photovoltaic News Tidbits from the 24th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition.

It's been like forever (1 year, 8 months, 10 days) since my last Solar Light Flashes. I've always planned to resurrect the haphazard post. Twitter delayed the return but sometimes 140 characters are insufficient. centrotherm photovoltaics AG (ETR:CTN) Only the Photovoltaic (PV) Industry plasters roadmaps or manufacturing costs on exhibition stand signage. The last official centrotherm CIGS (copper indium gallium diselenide) news was “Success in the thin film division: centrotherm photovoltaics achieves 13 percent efficiency for mass production”. Tom Cheyney chatted with centrotherm in “EU PVSEC short takes: Talking CIGS turnkey, eyeballing a Nanosolar panel, and more” at PV-tech.org. Read More >>

24th EU PVSEC: 2009 Becquerel Prize Awarded

[Hamburg, Germany] From 24th EU PVSEC Dr. Andreas Bett awarded the 17th Becquerel Prize for the successful development of photovoltaic concentrator technology. The Prize is named after French physicist Alexandre Edmond Becquerel (1820-1891) who discovered the photovoltaic effect in 1839 at age 19. During the opening session of the 24th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, Dr. Andreas Bett, accepted the award after a Laudatio titled “Striving for Highest Efficiencies” by Professor Wolfram Wetting on the occasion of the Becquerel Prize ceremony. Dr. Bett is the Head of the Materials – Solar Cells and Technology department and a Deputy Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) located in Freiburg, Germany. From left to right in the above award presentation photo are Professor Adolf Goetzberger… Read More >>

Concentrix Solar installs UCSD test system

From Intersolar North America 5.75 kiloWatt (kW) Concentrator PhotoVoltaic (CPV) system with new, optimized CX-75 modules. Part of Concentrix Solar’s US market entry strategy. Although I tweeted about the development last week, the cooperation with the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), was disclosed earlier by Concentrix Solar in a presentation at the 5th Germany California Solar Day. “Concentrix Solar introduces new module generation CX-75 in the USA” states the joint project was installed

Intersolar North America

[San Francisco, California USA] Observing the obvious. I managed to spend some time at Intersolar North America 2009 this week in San Francisco. Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) From Intersolar North America The big news was US President Barack Obama somehow finding the time to visit Applied Materials before the Major League Baseball 2009 All-Star Game in St. Louis, Missouri. A crowd formed to understand how AMAT is driving down cost per watt. From Intersolar North America Solyndra, Inc. I noticed Michael Kanellos take a cameraperson over to

State of the CPV Consortium – Part 2

“Is the CPV (Concentrator PhotoVoltaics) Industry Ready to Ramp?” More CPV Myth Busting plus CPV Environmental Positives. Even as I finished the “State of the CPV Consortium” post, I knew a follow up was required to complete the State of CPV address. I begin here with the CPV forecast from the presentation by CPV Consortium Chairman/Director Nancy Hartsoch. From PV Industry Forum 2009 As you can see in the above Picasa photo, PHOTON International claims 10 MW (MegaWatts) of CPV was installed in 2008. However, Ms. Hartsoch thought this was not all High Concentration PhotoVoltaics (HCPV) but was dominated by silicon based concentrators. For instance, “Opportunities and Challenges for

Concentrix Solar installs 100kW of FLATCON Power Plants at Casaquemada

Part of 2 MW photovoltaic project in Sanlúcar la Mayor (Seville) Spain. Concentrix Solar GmbH and Abengoa Solar connected the 2 MW (MegaWatt) hybrid crystalline silicon module and FLATCON CPV (Concentrator PhotoVoltaic) power plant to the grid in late September 2008 while the first Spanish Feed-in Tariff (FiT) law was still in effect. The Casaquemada Power Plant installation was completed on the Abengoa Solar site, part of the Solúcar Complex, in August 2008. Nineteen (19) 5.75 kW (kiloWatt) FLATCON trackers using the newer, optimized FLATCON modules enabling 23% AC (Alternating Current) system efficiencies (please see Concentrix Concentrator PhotoVoltaic System achieves 23% Efficiency) were used at Casaquemada. This implies a name plate

Concentrix Solar nears FLATCON Module volume production

Ramping new 25 MW (MegaWatt) production line in September 2008

Since Concentrix Concentrator PhotoVoltaic System achieves 23% Efficiency, Concentrix Solar GmbH announced the same High-efficiency FLATCON® technology enters industrial-scale production (Deutsch) last Friday, August 15, 2008. Concentrix is moving across the town of Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, to a new 4000 square meter production and service space located in a portion of the former Spectral Lichttechnik building at the Auf der Haid industrial park.

Concentrix’s new factory will produce CPV (Concentrator PhotoVoltaic) FLATCON modules using an automated 25 MW production line leveraging two (2) years of experience operating their 1 MW pilot line. Concentrix claims

Concentrix Concentrator PhotoVoltaic System achieves 23% Efficiency

From sunlight to AC (Alternating Current)

On June 6, 2008, Concentrix Solar GmbH announced in 23% Solar Electricity Production fed into utility grid (Deutsch) their CPV (Concentrator PhotoVoltaic) system based on FLATCON technology had:

During the measurement period in May 2008, AC system efficiencies of 23% and higher were measured under normal operating conditions for a demonstration system located at the test site of the new partner Abengoa Solar in Seville, Spain.

The 23% or better AC efficiency reflects the actual electricity fed into the grid after sunlight is first converted into DC (Direct Current) by the photovoltaic modules and then into AC by the inverter under