1 MegaWatt (MW) Concentrator PhotoVoltaic (CPV) plant is a pilot demonstration for a period of five years.
Concentrix Solar plans to build a US manufacturing facility.

“New Mexico puts old mine to solar use” by Candace Lombardi at the CNET news.com Green Tech Blog presaged the event. Although I contacted the Communications Office of New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, the Concentrix Solar division of the Soitec Group (EPA:SOI), Chevron Technology Ventures (CTV), and Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), the lone photo of the event is in The Taos News taken by Rick Romancito. I believe Concentrix Solar CEO Hansjörg Lerchenmüller is visible in the photo to the far left.

Reviewing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Preferred Alternative for cleaning up mining-related contamination at the Chevron Mining, Inc. (CMI) Questa, New Mexico, mine site:

MOLYCORP, INC. SITE (CURRENTLY CHEVRON MINING, INC.)
Proposed Cleanup Plan December 2009

I discovered the plan to operate the CPV plant for a five (5) year test period in this paragraph:

Chevron Technology Ventures, in working with CMI, EPA and the New Mexico regulatory agencies, plans to construct a 1 megawatt solar energy facility at the northeastern portion of the tailing facility in 2010. The solar facility is to be operated as a pilot demonstration for a period of five years and would test concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) technology. In conjunction with the solar project, CMI would also demonstrate the effectiveness of alternate cover depths of 1, 2, and 3 feet for the protection of human health and the environment.

Construction of the 1 MW CPV plant on about 20 acres (~8.1 hectares) at the CMI Questa Tailing Facility is scheduled for completion in December 2010. No doubt the project is complicated by preparing the site to evaluate alternative capping soil depths.

The project is said to “include approximately 175 CPV systems”; 175 Concentrix Solar CX-P6 Systems (Technical Data Sheet) each rated at 6 kW (kiloWatt) Nominal AC Power specify a system capacity of 1.05 MW AC. Therefore, the Questa CPV project may just edge the VVC SolFocus installation for North American bragging rights once completed.

View Questa Mine 1MW CPV Project in a larger map

“Editorial: A light at the end of the tunnel for Questa mine” at The Taos News said:

The cleanup could cost Chevron Mining nearly $1 billion and take up to 30 years to complete. The mine is estimated to have enough ore to harvest for 40 more years and the proposal would allow most of the work to be done while it is operating.

Although the financial terms of the deal between Chevron Technology Ventures and Concentrix Solar have not been disclosed, the magnitude of the Questa cleanup confirms my understanding that Chevron was somewhat indifferent to the price of the CPV plant. Sourced from the Concentrix Solar factory in Freiburg, Germany, I infer (guess) the cost was $6 per Watt or higher due to exchange rates and perhaps with or without the EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction).

Per “Chevron breaks ground on solar plant” at the New Mexico Business Weekly,

As part of the solar installation agreement, Chevron will use 30 acres of the plant as a pilot demonstration site to evaluate different soil depths suitable for use at the closure of the mine in an attempt to show that shallower depths of one or two feet will still ensure no adverse impacts to the health of the local community and the environment.

If the project validates capping soil depths below the EPA mandate of three feet for mine tailings, Chevron will realize significant cleanup savings with the placement of cover across the 1050 acre (~425 hectare) tailing facility. In fairness to Chevron, the Questa mine was acquired along with Unocal in 2005.

Electricity produced by the CPV plant will all be sold to the Kit Carson Electric Cooperative (KCEC) through a PPA (Power Purchase Agreement). Terms including the period of the Chevron Solar PPA have also not been disclosed although the agreement was discussed in a closed Executive Session of the January 26, 2010, KCEC Board Meeting.

I can only assume the successful test of the CPV technology over the 5 year period will result in extended operation of the solar plant contingent upon the cover depth evaluation results on the site.

Concentrix Solar Updates
At the 3rd Solar Energy Investment & Finance Summit USA in San Francisco, Concentrix Solar Business Development Manager Michael Armstrong said:

We are in the process of getting UL and CEC certification for the US right now, as a matter of fact it will be out next month.

I suggest keeping an eye on the California Energy Commission (CEC) List of Other Eligible Solar Electric Generating Technologies for the California Solar Initiative (CSI) in June 2010.

In response to a cost per Watt question, Mr. Armstrong said:

Right now with a kit, with the EPC, with everything, we are in the mid $4’s and we expect to be much lower than that in the very near future. And part of that formula is that we will be building a factory here in the United States.
I think within 24 months you will see some extremely aggressive pricing from all of us in the CPV world.

On May 18, 2010, “Knowledge Oasis Muscat holds inaugural ceremony of third generation solar energy panel” at AMEinfo.com reports on a Concentrix CPV demonstration system installed at the Knowledge Oasis Muscat (KOM) technology park in Oman.

©2010 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

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.

From Soitec Enters Fast Growing Concentrated Photovoltaic Market

Soitec envisions accelerating the Cost Reduction and System Efficiency Roadmaps for CPV Systems through the combination of:

• Concentrix Solar proven CPV system expertise
• Fraunhofer ISE III-V solar cell technology
• Extension of Soitec R&D partnership with CEA-Leti on engineered materials for III-V cell applications
• Application of Soitec Smart Cut^TM engineered substrates, Smart Stacking^TM technologies, and III-V epitaxy expertise to optimize CPV systems

Soitec offers III-V products today for RF and microwave components through its Picogiga International division.

In “Soitec builds growth strategy on 4 pillars, says CEO” by Anne-Francoise Pele at EETimes.com from November 25, 2009, Soitec had already articulated Value Proposition #4 during the release of First half results 2009-2010:

Last but not least, Soitec unveiled its fourth proposition: To provide solutions based on III-V materials for the Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) market. This market, according to market research firm Emerging Energy Research, will represent 9 percent of solar PV market in 2020, and the market of PV modules will then reach $287 billion.

Soitec said it is working to enhance its SmartCut technology on III-V materials, to develop a highly efficient solar cell and to ensure that cost per watt in CPV is competitive over the next five years. For that, Auberton-Hervé specified, the company will see to collaborate and gain competencies in solar cells, modules and related systems.

From Soitec Enters Fast Growing Concentrated Photovoltaic Market

Concentrix Solar Financials
In a rare glimpse at start-up financials, Concentrix Solar expects 2009 revenues of €5.2 million (USD $7.6 million) representing 53% sales growth from 2008. Concentrix Solar has not announced a major installation in 2009. Since 2009 has been challenging for CPV firms, is the revenue a mix of new, unannounced installations, recognition of revenue from 2008 installations, and perhaps solar cell technology licensing revenue?

In the conference call, CEO Lerchenmüller mentioned Concentrix Solar had installed 600 kW (kiloWatt) of CPV systems in Spain, many more demo systems in the US, Spain, Italy, and Korea, and was executing on a very, very significant project pipeline.

From Soitec Enters Fast Growing Concentrated Photovoltaic Market

Transaction
Valuing Concentrix Solar at €55 million, Soitec is acquiring 80% of the company for about €34 million (USD $49.7 million) from major shareholders such as Good Energies. I confirmed Abengoa Solar was also bought out in the deal. Concentrix Solar has never disclosed funding amounts from Fraunhofer ISE, Good Energies, Abengoa Solar, or other sources.

The remaining 20% of Concentrix Solar is retained by minority shareholders including company founders and management along with Fraunhofer subject to put (minority shareholders) and call (Soitec) options based on exercise dates, revenue, and gross margin targets.

Post acquisition in January 2010, Soitec and minority shareholders will also fund a €20 million capital increase of Concentrix Solar.

Integration
As part of a the Soitec Group’s new photovoltaic business unit, Concentrix Solar management and operations will remain in Freiburg in close proximity to Fraunhofer ISE.

Concentrix Solar to expected to grow faster than the Soitec Group with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) greater than 100% from 2010 to 2015 and break even in two to three years.

Dr. Auberton-Hervé said:

We are entering in the solar energy market at the time (the) Copenhagen summit is showing the direction that this world cannot avoid, to go more and more to renewable energy.

AZUR SPACE?
While Fraunhofer and Soitec to codevelop a new generation of III-V cell (the “Smart Cell”) is stated, it is unclear if Soitec will focus on engineered III-V substrate solutions only or also enter terrestrial, III-V multijunction solar cell production or both.

Where does that leave longtime Fraunhofer ISE III-V multijunction solar cell industrialization partner, AZUR SPACE Solar Power GmbH? Will AZUR SPACE become a Soitec partner, customer, or future competitor?

In this ICSC-5 17 November 2008 presentation, Gerhard Strobl discussed AZUR SPACE capacity and expansion plans:

• Capacity in 2008: 100 MW in CPV
• Planned capacity in 2011: 500 – 600 MW
• Further capacities on customer’s demand based on long term agreements

Concentrix Solar has 25 MW (MegaWatt) of annual CPV module production capacity in place with rapid expansion to 100 MW possible.

I wonder what valuation SolFocus would receive in an acquisition after raising around $173.3 million to date?

©2010 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

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 fall, and we’re in the fall.”

I was nervous and had to speak in a loud and direct manner into the microphone so I forgot to begin with my name and affiliation.

A: SolFocus President and CEO Mark Crowley said: “Good question. We have in the island in our warehouse preparing for initial installation something on the order of a MegaWatt of product. We have installation partners (and) project management partners ready to go. We are waiting for Environmental permitting on the island. And that is preventing the next phase of the installation of the projects. So that’s the status.”

In “Bloggage From SPI, Part 2: A Hopeful CPV Panel”, Eric Wesoff reports on the Concentrating Photovoltaics session in Greentech Media’s Green Light blog.

Morgan Solar Inc.
I was looking forward to checking out Morgan Solar’s redesigned Light-guide Solar Optic (LSO). The LSO channels perpendicular light using total internal reflection to a central glass optic and onto a III-V multijunction solar cell. Only 5 mm (millimeters) thick, the acrylic LSO is much thinner than competing technologies using a Fresnel lens or mirrors. The Sun Simba HCPV (High Concentration PhotoVoltaic) system arranges the LSOs into panels supported by an aluminum spine which doubles as a heat sink. The thin LSOs facilitate a Staggered Row design for better cooling and to reduce tracker wind loading.

Please see “Morgan Solar Raises $4.7M, Opens Pilot Line for CPV” by Ucilia Wang at Greentech Media for information on their Series A funding including investors the Iberdrola Group and Nypro Inc. Nypro is also slated as a manufacturing and product assembly partner for Morgan Solar.

While “Staying Focused” by Garrett Hering in the PHOTON International August 2009 issue (PI 8/2009, p.130-140 reprint) surveyed 40 “Concentrating PV module and system developers” with the subtitle “Window closing for CPV start-ups”, Morgan Solar is among the elite CPV start-ups to watch in 2010. I better research a standalone post about Morgan Solar this time like I was supposed to after last year’s Solar Power International.

Concentrix Solar GmbH
“Concentrix Solar contributes with its FLATCON® concentrator photovoltaic technology to the construction of the ecological „MASDAR City“ in Abu Dhabi” was released the Friday before SPI 09 opened. I almost blogged about the Concentrix press release (PR) but opted for “Applied Materials Solar SunFab: By the Numbers” instead for which I received a few encouraging comments.

Concentrix will install a 100 kW (kiloWatt) solar plant as part of a 1 MW (MegaWatt) tender coordinated by the Spanish Instituto de Sistemas Fotovoltaicos de Concentracion (ISFOC) and corroborated by “Masdar awards two contracts for tests of solar technology” by Chris Stanton for The National. The PR does not yet appear on the Concentrix Solar website. I hear the overall Masdar City contract has not been finalized.

From SPI 09 Expo

Energy Innovations, Inc.
“Energy Innovations to install Sunflower system in Masdar City” by Syanne Olson at PV-tech.org was the second company named in The National article above. Again, the press release is not on the company website.

I visited Energy Innovations right after the ill planned Expo floor press conference with U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis. Energy Innovations grabbed my attention when the representative mentioned the installed cost was $4 per Watt heading to $3 over time. Energy Innovations will ramp a pilot line in the first or second quarter of 2010 and end the year with production capacity of 13 MW.

In addition to 1200 times concentration and other interesting specifications, the Sunflower technology uses a proprietary Micro-Converter technology to optimize Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) across every five (5) modules. Since 500kW is the minimum Sunflower HCPV system installation size, there are 400 DC to DC micro-converters per building block.

Earlier at SPI 09, I had heard about a competing CPV technology also utilizing per module power electronics validating my independent observation. Slight cell variations which lead to one (1) sun module mismatch are magnified by concentration. Power electronics per module can be used to correct for the exacerbated mismatch. I will investigate the point in more detail.

EVERPHOTON Energy Corporation
With “Everphoton Won Masdar Eco‐City Tender” at ENF.cn (Source: PHOTON) or “Taiwan maker Everphoton Energy lands 80KWp HCPV contract from UAE”, Everphoton was the first CPV firm to preannounce a Masdar City contract.

Amonix Inc.
After snapping two photos and running from the Skyline Solar stand, I got up to speed on the Amonix 7700 HCPV solar power generator. Amonix has been the leader in HCPV having installed some 13 MW since 1994. Amonix has transitioned from silicon solar cells to III-V multijunction solar cells and completed two installations:

• 240 kW Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) River Mountain Water Treatment Facility
• 91 kW UNLV Center for Energy Research

Soliant Energy, Inc.
Tom Cheyney’s Chip Shots blog has the Soliant scoop in “Commercial rooftop CPV? Soliant Energy sees millions of square meters of opportunity” at PV-tech.org. For whatever reason, I have not found Soliant very exciting.

One thing CPV could use is consistent jargon. Is it Concentrator PhotoVoltaics, Concentrating PhotoVoltaics, or High Concentration PhotoVoltaics (HCPV)? It depends on how the phrase is used in a sentence. The CPV Consortium favors Concentrator Photovoltaics.

©2010 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

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.

From 24th EU PVSEC

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.

I wonder what the latest is on Sunshine PV Corp.’s installation and ramp of a 30 MW (MegaWatt) centrotherm CIGS production line?

From 24th EU PVSEC

German Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) 2009: Direct Use

Cornelia Viertl, Senior Advisor for Solar Energy and Geothermal Energy at the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, presented the “Political Framework for the PV market in Germany” at EU PVSEC. The slide on Direct Use shown above attracted my attention.

The EEG Direct Use provision has been painted by a few US Feed-in Tariff (FiT) naysayers as a German step towards California style Performance Based Incentives or even net metering. In reality, the Special tariff option =pays= the consumer €0.2501 per kWh (kiloWatt-hour) for each kWh of electricity consumed over a 20 year period! The Direct Use tariff is in effect a Feed-in Tariff minus a flat residential electricity rate. In practice, a German residential PV installation selecting the Direct Use option can achieve a zero Euro electric bill with less than half the PV system capacity required under California net metering rules.

As I tweeted back then, the silliest thing I heard at Intersolar NA 2009 was said by Prometheus Institute President Travis Bradford during his “State of the Solar Industry” presentation. Mr. Bradford said:

A lot of people that are promoting Feed-in Tariffs in the United States um just know at the same time Germany is trying to move to a California based model. So how are you going to reconcile that?

With German PV Feed-in Tariffs under pressure because of the steep fall in solar module prices and the new conservative CDU FDP coalition government, I expect FiT detractors will disinform during Solar Power International 2009 at every opportunity.

From 24th EU PVSEC

Fraunhofer ISE (Institute for Solar Energy Systems)

At the Fraunhofer ISE stand, a FLATCON® Module with Reflective Secondary Optics was on display hinting at the possible future direction of Concentrix Solar GmbH. Still under development, the modules with reflective secondary optics were said to have achieved efficiencies as high as 29.1% outdoors without citing further details.

From 24th EU PVSEC

Global Solar Energy, Inc.

Is something wrong at Global Solar? When I had an unpleasant question for them, I discovered Global Solar had dropped the PR firm listed on their website, and I never got a response from the company. Global Solar has been mum (perhaps by contract?) throughout The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW) CIGS solar shingle hoopla, “DOW™ POWERHOUSE™ Solar Shingle Unveiled”, or please see “Dow Unveils Solar Shingles” by Todd Woody for the New York Times Green Inc. Blog. So what happens if a nail is hammered through a CIGS cell by accident?

From 24th EU PVSEC

KCC Polysilicon

After achieving 150 MT (Metric Ton) polysilicon pilot production in 2008, KCC Corporation (SEO:002380) claims to be on schedule to complete the construction of two (2) polysilicon factories with 3000 MT annual capacity each by the end of 2009. One is fully owned by KCC while the second is a joint venture (JV) between KCC and Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (SEO:009540) called Korean Advanced Material (KAM). Phase I mass production is slated to ramp at both factories in the first to second quarter of 2010. KCC will produce the TCS (Trichlorosilane) used for polysilicon production.

From 24th EU PVSEC

Q-Cells SE (ETR:QCE)

Q-Cells CEO Anton Milner made quite the EU PVSEC entrance when he arrived in the solar taxi. OK, I did not witness nor believe that happened, but the concept was made possible by a Q-Cells’ community initiative.

From 24th EU PVSEC

RTS Corporation

RTS Corporation President Osamu IKKI presented “PV market of Japan: Rising again with the new support framework”. As the above slide shows, RTS projects the Japanese PV market will grow to 400-500 MW in 2009 and 1.0-1.2 GW by 2012. In the near term, residential and municipal (schools) PV applications dominate. Japanese utilities have announced Distributed Generation PV projects from 1.5 MW to 18 MW in size slated for completion over the next few years.

From 24th EU PVSEC

Schmid Group

When I saw the sign, I just had to take a few photos at the Schmid stand without any particular agenda.

From 24th EU PVSEC

Schmid Silicon Technology GmbH (SST)

Since Schmid Pilot Production Topping Out, “Installation of first equipment has started” (Deutsch) was the news somewhere around September 14, 2009. Per SST, potential customers are waiting for the successful completion of pilot production to prove the Schmid Process.

From 24th EU PVSEC

Skyline Solar, Inc.

Skyline Solar had a stand at EU PVSEC (and will have one at Solar Power International 2009 also known as SPI 09). Why? Exactly. Don’t they need to get their modules certified before their solution has any hope of being bankable?

Judging by the participation of Skyline Solar VP of Marketing Tim Keating in the SPI 09 panel, “Shifting from Installed Costs to Performance Costs: Why $/W is No Longer Relevant to the End Market”, on Tuesday, Oct 27, 2009, from 11:00AM to 12:30PM, accelerating PV’s path to grid parity with High Gain Solar (HGS) lies through price and cost obfuscation.

From 24th EU PVSEC

SolarEdge Technologies Inc.

At EU PVSEC, I learned SolarEdge has some 25 MW (MegaWatts) of backlog with production at about 200 kW (kiloWatts) per week. Since Close to the SolarEdge, SolarEdge has racked up awards (Global Cleantech 100, Frost & Sullivan), partners (HaWi, Isofotón), and investors. I expect further big news around SPI 09 though SolarEdge is forgoing their trademark exhibition edge location for central stand 2438.

From 24th EU PVSEC

Sony Chemicals Europe B.V.

When I saw the SONY stand, I thought it might be for solar modules or a PV powered PSP (PlayStation Portable). Sony Chemical & Information Device Corporation was promoting photovoltaic module materials through its European subsidiary, Sony Chemicals Europe B.V.

Products included a Solar Cell Conductive Film SP102F1 used as a connecting material between metal ribbons and solar cells in crystalline silicon and thin film PV modules and a tentative datasheet for an Encapsulant with backsheet.

From 24th EU PVSEC

Tigo Energy

I met with Tigo just before their announcement on gaining UL compliance, “Tigo Energy Achieves Compliance/Certification Landmark”. Tigo also announced the Module Maximizer-ES (MM-ES), perfect for string retrofit installations, had a $56 MSRP (Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price). Tigo mentioned the Module Maximizer solution is seeing traction in retrofit applications in Spain and even in Germany with an unnamed commercial sized PV system. Tigo was also awarded the Global Cleantech 100 honor like a competitor mentioned above. Perhaps the tie I declared in Intersolar 2009: My Photovoltaic Top 10 List was prescient?

Is Tigo’s $56 MSRP kryptonite to SolarMagic priced at $199 each and requiring the one $79 blocking diode per string?

From 24th EU PVSEC

Tyco Electronics Ltd. (NYSE:TEL)

Tyco earns my creative promotion award by joining twitter (http://twitter.com/TycoElectronics) and offering a “Twitter Goodie” to those visiting the Tyco stand and uttering the phrase. Now I didn’t know about the chance to win a SOLARLOK Service Kit by dropping off a business card.

From 24th EU PVSEC

And that completes a rather wordy Solar Light Flashes. The End.

©2010 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

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, Chairman of the Becquerel Prize Committee, Dr. Andreas Bett, Becquerel Prize Winner, Professor Wim Sinke, Conference General Chairman, and Wolfgang Palz, Chairman Europe WRCE.

Reading the citation before the Laudatio, Professor Adolf Goetzberger said:

Dr. Andreas Bett is the 17th Becquerel Prize winner. He receives the Becquerel Award for his pioneering work on monolithic multijunction solar cells leading to a world record efficiency of 41.1%. He introduced the lattice mismatch growth technique that is the key to record efficiencies. He further developed characterization techniques and simulation tools for concentrator multijunction solar cells. In his laboratory he researched and achieved significant advances in concentrator modules and systems including long term stability. The FLATCON concept was developed and successfully introduced into production. Dr. Bett is not only a pioneer in research and development of III-V multijunction solar cells, but he also earned great merits for the industrialization of concentrating photovoltaic technology. He is a co-founder of Concentrix Solar which is today one of the leading companies in this market sector. With this prize, the European Photovoltaic community at its gathering in Hamburg expresses its recognition to Dr. Andreas Bett for his extraordinary achievements in the PV solar electricity.

In his acceptance speech, Dr. Bett highlighted continuous financial support, good infrastructure, an excellent team, and fun at work as keys to successful research.

From 24th EU PVSEC

Dr. Bett’s first presentation at the 9th EU PVSEC in Freiburg 1989.

From 24th EU PVSEC

Dr. Bett also serves on the Supervisory Board (Board of Directors) of Concentrix Solar GmbH.

Fraunhofer ISE beat my post yesterday with the press release, “Becquerel Prize for Dr. Andreas Bett Award from European Commission for the successful development of photovoltaic concentrator technology” (Deutsch).

Herr Doktor Bett is also a patient person willing to entertain the occasional, random question from a certain Photovoltaic Blogger.

©2010 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

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 and put into operation on UCSD’s East Campus Energy Park. While UCSD’s East Campus has a 69 kV (kiloVolt) / 12 kV Substation, the exact location of the 5.75 kW test system is unclear from the Concentrix Solar supplied photo. Concentric Solar said:

The aim of the joint project is to test the new module generation under California climate conditions and thus to create a reference in the USA, especially for the American customers.

The CX-75 modules used in the installation have an average efficiency of 27.2% (percent) and have already been deployed in a Spanish commercial power plant. The UCSD system has 90 modules on a single tracker delivering 5.75 kW of Nominal AC Power.

Concentrix Solar CEO Hansjörg Lerchenmüller said:

Meanwhile we are also registering a large demand for our technology from the USA. Due to the large energy demand during the summer months, the high temperatures and the high irradiation, our CPV technology is ideally suited for the southwestern states in the USA. Thus, we will further expand our capacities and in the future will intensify our involvement in the U.S. market.

Concentrix Solar has not hit 30% module efficiencies yet, but prototypes have achieved 29% and average module production is at 27%. Each CX-75 module has 200 III-V multijunction (MJC) terrestrial solar cells producing 75 W (Watts) Direct Current (DC) at 850 W/m² (Watts per meter squared) Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI).

In the Concentrator Photovoltaic – High Efficiency Utility Scale Power Plants session at Intersolar North America, CEO Lerchenmüller said:

So once we go to real industrial production, we will drive down cost tremendously, and we see that we can easily make 13 cents a kWh (Ed Note: kilowatt-hours) in two years from now.

From Intersolar North America

As an Analyst suggested to me, is CPV in a Deathmatch with CSP (Concentrating Solar Power) technologies? Or is peaceful coexistence possible? CPV has advantages in minimal water use, flexible land use, and scalable deployments.

Meanwhile, as Eric Wesoff of zero billion-dollar CPV market fame reports at Greentech Media, “Suntech’s Beebe: ‘There Will Be No Concentrating Photovoltaic Market at All’”.

When I checked for Concentrix Solar on the California Energy Commission (CEC) List of Other Eligible Solar Electric Generating Technologies for the California Solar Initiative (CSI), I did not find Concentrix Solar modules but the:

Solaria Corporation CMT-190 190W Polycrystalline   PV Module

had been added. Please see “After early-2009 product certification, privately held Solaria Corp. is finally ramping up its 25 MW” by Garrett Herring for PHOTON International.

©2010 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

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 the Satcon stand to video the Solyndra panel shown in “At Intersolar: The Elusive Solyndra Solar Panel”. When I saw the quality, I knew it was still worth posting my own point and shoot efforts. I have great respect for photographers taking product shots of photovoltaic modules. My number one rule is not to be in the reflection.

A Tale of Two Publications
There have been numerous new solar and photovoltaic (PV) media publications over the past year and a half attempting to capitalize on PV industry growth. I first noticed two such publications at the inaugural Intersolar North America last year: SolarPro and Solar Industry Magazine.

From Intersolar North America

Best new solar publication:
SolarPro Magazine

The About SolarPro webpage defines the magazine as:

SolarPro is a high-quality technical publication available by free subscription to qualifying solar industry professionals. These are the people who are making solar happen—and no other publication gives them the nuts-and-bolts information they need.

Created by the professionals at Home Power magazine, it is no wonder they get the PV industry. I had to appeal to a contact to get my free online subscription.

From Intersolar North America

Worst (new or otherwise) solar publication:
Solar Industry Magazine

Anyone who saw or voted in my second PV Poll, How do you rate the “Solar Industry” monthly trade magazine? already knows I don’t regard this publication with esteem. The format is best described as paraphrased press releases with voluminous advertising and an occasional article.

I might have remained indifferent to Solar Industry and their misguided advertisers until I saw the “California Collapse” editorial by Managing Editor Michael Bates. Commenting on a post by Eric Savitz in the Barron’s Tech Trader Daily Blog, Mr. Bates said:

The data contained there evidently provided Savitz with Fodder, and data doesn’t lie – even if some bloggers do.

Well, a significant number of bloggers are more concerned about their content than their advertising sales staff. A point I hope Solar Industry Magazine and Mr. Bates will take to heart. And Mr. Savitz generates more original content in a day than Solar Industry Magazine does in a month.

My free subscription to Solar Industry Magazine has continued even though I have never renewed it. Is a circulation audit in order?

From Intersolar North America

SolFocus vs. Concentrix Solar
There was no competition here at all. Concentrix Solar had a stand at the exhibition to promote their CPV (Concentrating PhotoVoltaic) solutions while SolFocus opted to only participate in the conference. Concentrix Solar Chief Operating Officer (COO) Karl Friedrich Haarburger told me the company is targeting 500 kW (kiloWatt) to 1 MW (MegaWatt) CPV opportunities in the US market this year.

From Intersolar North America

Priceless
Watching SolFocus’ Nancy Hartsoch as GreenVolts Chairman Bob Cart presented a CPV System Equivalent Cost slide in the session, Photovoltaic Technology (3), 2. Large-Scale PV Power Plants & Concentrating PV. I don’t believe GreenVolts, Inc. is a member of the CPV Consortium.

From Intersolar North America

Will the real SolarMagic (Solar Magic) please stand up?
The National Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE:NSM) legal team was set a twitter by the Heze Solar Magic Co. Ltd. stand promoting solar water heater products. It was unclear if this was a trademark violation since the product space may be distinct.

I did attend the first @Intersolar tweetup on Wednesday evening organized by Deep Patel of GoGreenSolar.com Blog fame. I met twitter following / followers, new folks, and a tweeter from Solar Industry Magazine. Oops.

©2010 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

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 Development of a Mature Concentrating Photovoltaic Power Industry” by Sarah Kurtz from Technical Report NREL/TP-520-43208 Revised February 2009 lists silicon CPV suppliers Guascor Foton and Amonix deploying 10.6 MW of combined capacity in 2008.

In 2009, PHOTON predicts 50 MW (MegaWatts) of CPV installations. By contrast, the CPV Consortium expects 25 to 30 MW of installed grid tied systems in 2009 with “over 50 in process of being deployed.” Ms. Hartsoch said:

We are predicting that it’s about a 200 MegaWatt market in 2011 and could easily double again after that. So as you approach that 2012 timeframe, you are approaching cost parity with thin films, you are approaching grid parity, and the market is huge.

I’ll return to CPV Myth Busting in the sections below.

For Small to Medium Sized Installations?
The CPV Consortium claims CPV can scale to large utility scale plants with size flexibility, future expandability to increasing demand, and Distributed Generation near the point of use.

Not Ready for Volume Manufacturing?
Per the Sarah Kurtz NREL report, there is 132 MW of cumulative HCPV manufacturing capacity with SolFocus, Inc. (50 MW/year), Concentrix Solar GmbH (25 MW/year), and Sol3g, S.L. (12 MW/year) leading the CPV pack.

Unproven, Untested? New technology
Regular readers of this blog are already familiar with ISFOC. The second 1.3 MW phase of the 3 MW ISFOC reference project for CPV commercialization is under construction, and Arima EcoEnergy expects to complete their 300 kW installation by the end of June 2009.

Regarding ISFOC expansion, Nancy Hartsoch said:

That program is currently being replicated in the Middle East. We are looking at trying to do a similar thing in the US to really get buy in for the new technology.

In the following PV Industry Forum presentation, Concentrix Solar shared their field experience with CPV systems including ISFOC and Casaquemada:

FLATCON^® Concentrator Photovoltaic Technology in the Field
May 25-26, 2009, Munich, Germany
5th PV Industry Forum

As I tweeted, Ms. Hartsoch hinted the first IEC62108 CPV product would be certified the same week. The next day, “SolFocus Becomes First Company to Receive IEC Certification on Concentrator Photovoltaic (CPV) Modules” was released. In looking at this press release and the earlier “SolFocus Announces Leading 25% Efficient Concentrator PV (CPV) Systems”, I realized none of the new SF-1100P module specifications were ever mentioned, and I could not find a datasheet at the SolFocus site. I believe this is intentional. Looking for the California Energy Commission (CEC) List of Other Eligible Solar Electric Generating Technologies for the California Solar Initiative (CSI) reveals that the Watt does exist as a unit of measure at SolFocus:

SolFocus Inc. SF-1000P 210W Concentrator PV Module
SolFocus Inc. SF-1100P 300W Concentrator PV Module

There is no reason SolFocus must release technical information, although Concentrix Solar, for example, does provide transparency on Technical Data Sheets.

From PV Industry Forum 2009

Environmental Positives
In advocating “The Environment Needs CPV”, I think the CPV Consortium has assembled a few strong points in favor of CPV.

CPV was asserted to be “green in creation” with a minimum of photovoltaic semiconductor materials and quick to green operation via short energy payback within 0.6 to 1 years time. High efficiency and the two-axis tracking requirement favor pedestal type trackers driving low and dual land use with less permanent shadowing impact on plant and animal life than fixed tilt or maybe even single-axis trackers. Pedestal trackers could benefit high efficiency monocrystalline silicon solar modules in a similar way.

While the CPV Consortium claimed there was No Water Consumption for CPV, it is more accurate to state there is perhaps minimal water required for module cleaning compared to CSP (Concentrating Solar Power) which needs 700-1000 gallons (2650-3785 liters) of water per MWh (MegaWatt-hour) of energy production.

On recyclability, the CPV Consortium claimed 80-97% of a CPV module could be recycled depending on the technology, and SolFocus is supposed to be at the high end of this range. But, the recyclability of the Multijunction (MJ) III-V Solar Cells, which include Gallium Arsenide (GaAs), wasn’t discussed. I imagine due to their special requirements, no CPV firm is yet a member of PV CYCLE. I believe the CPV Consortium needs to develop a plan now to ensure module take back and recycling at the end of CPV system life for the nascent industry.

Don’t forget to vote in the new sidebar PV POLL: Is CPV (Concentrator PhotoVoltaics) dead?

©2010 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

Casaquemada installation. Photo Credit: Concentrix Solar GmbH

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 power rating of about 109.3 kWp (kilowatt-peak).

Here is the press release, “Concentrix Solar and Abengoa Solar successfully connect 2 MW power station to Spanish grid” (Deutsch).

In the flurry of September 2008 CPV news, I never posted about these either.

“Concentrix Solar completes 200 kW unit in Puertollano” (Deutsch)

In early September 2008, Concentrix Solar finished building and preparing the second set of nineteen (19) FLATCON trackers for grid connection, completing their first 200 kW power plant for the ISFOC (Instituto de Sistemas Fotovoltaicos de Concentracion or Institute for Photovoltaic Concentration Systems) project. Concentrix Solar also began construction of the 300 kW power plant in Sotos, located north of Cuenca (please see “ISFOC 1.3MW CPV Power Plant tenders made public”).

“Concentrix Solar successfully installs first system in Italy” (Deutsch)

Also in a busy September 2008, Concentrix Solar installed a 5.75 kW FLATCON tracker demo system in Altomonte, Italy, enabling Electricité de France (EDF) and Edison to gain practical experience operating CPV systems.

And a few more things…

Concentrix has a world map detailing Suitable Locations with abundant direct solar radiation for HCPV power plants.

Abengoa Solar details the Land Requirement for 1 MW Plants and claims about ten (10) acres or a precise four (4) Hectares are required for a 1MW High CPV (HCPV) installation with 2-axis tracking.

And this Abengoa Solar Company overview provides interesting background on their Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technologies and projects as well as low CPV and HCPV.

If you are reading this post via an RSS Feed or Email subscription, all is as it should be. GUNTHER Portfolio has migrated to a self-hosted domain at http://guntherportfolio.com.

©2010 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

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 “the infrastructure is already in place to step up production to 50 MW.” The new facility is expected to create 150 new jobs augmenting Concentrix’s fifty (50) or so employees.

With new production capacity in place, Concentrix is keen on expanding sales and will exhibit at the upcoming 23rd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (EU PVSEC) in Valencia, Spain. Regarding the new production facility, CEO Hansjörg Lerchenmüller said:

It means we can at last meet the strong demand for our systems. High-efficiency concentrator photovoltaic systems will play a key role in the sunbelt because high efficiencies are a key to lowering costs. We are certainly well prepared for the future and can now additionally take on large power plant projects in the 1 to 10 MW range.

Per two German articles, Sonne gebündelt and Concentrix zieht auf die Haid, Concentrix turned down a 30 to 50% capital investment incentive from the German state of Saxony to move their mass production east. Concentrix cited their existing supplier network, partners (such as Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems), the attractiveness of Freiburg to future employees, and the immediate availability of the Spectral building as their rationale for staying put in Freiburg. Concentrix was said to be spending €2 million to alter the former Spectral building to suit their needs.

The CPV Consortium has a landing page for the Website Under Construction along with a CPV Consortium Membership Application for those interested in joining.

©2010 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.