Solar Power World

New Mexico hosts North America’s largest utility-scale CPV plant

During the Solar Power International show last week I had a chance to speak with Amonix Inc.  The CPV manufacturer says it’s powering North America’s largest utility-scale CPV power plant, a 5-MW facility in Hatch, New Mexico. The Hatch site was built by renewable energy contractor Blattner Energy Inc and is owned and operated by NextEra Energy Resources, LLC. El Paso Electric has committed to buying the center’s power for the next 25 years from NextEra under a long-term... Read More

French CPV technology finds a place in the southwestern states

The facility hosts 173 of Soitec’s two-axis trackers on seven acres. The manufacturer noted that the plant demonstrates their technology is ready for commercial use in utility-scale projects. While at Solar Power International last week I had the chance to stop by Soitec’s booth and hear what the French CPV manufacturer was up to. The company discussed a recent 1-MW facility in New Mexico, which is owned by Chevron and includes Soitec’s solar-power systems. Soitec says their... Read More

NREL to compare high-efficiency solar cells from 3 nations

NREL is partnering with major international industrial technology and solar research organizations to test how solar cells from three manufacturers perform in two geographic locations with different lighting conditions. A primary goal of the study is to assess how panels from three different manufacturers– the United States, Japan, and Germany–perform under different average lighting conditions characteristic of the study’s test sites in Aurora, Colo., and Yokohama,... Read More

Mexican 500-kW CPV plant largest in South America

CPV manufacturer Skyline Solar has introduced its Skyline X14 System, which is says has been selected for a 500-kW concentrated photovoltaic plant slated for construction in Durango, Mexico. DelSol Systems, a Mexican solar integrator, will construct the project, which will be the largest CPV plant in Latin America.   In sunny climates, and leveraging U.S. federal incentives, Skyline Solar says its System can deliver a levelized cost of electricity of less than 10 cents per... Read More

IBM Creates “Cooling Liquid” Which Significantly Reduces Costs For CPV

IBM announced a research breakthrough in PV technology that could significantly reduce the cost of harnessing the Sun’s power for electricity. By mimicking the antics of a child using a magnifying glass to burn a leaf or a camper to start a fire, IBM scientists are using a large lens to concentrate the Sun’s power, capturing a record 230 watts onto a centimeter square solar cell, in a technology known as concentrator photovoltaics, or CPV. That energy is then converted... Read More