Skyline Solar, a manufacturer of high gain solar (HGS) arrays will make the first commercial installation of its HGS 1000 system in a new municipal solar power plant in the tiny desert town of Nipton, Calif. The 80-kW Nipton plant is an upgradeable solar power system that will provide roughly 85% of Nipton’s electricity needs—the highest percentage of solar electricity of any town in the United States.
The HGS 1000 system brings a number of advances to the solar industry, according to its manufacturer:
Cost: the HGS’s architecture delivers ten times more energy per gram of silicon versus traditional flat-panel systems in sunny locations. The system uses tracking, cooling and concentration components, reducing the amount of silicon needed by 90%.
Upgradability: The power-producing components of the system are upgradeable, allowing system-owners to “future-proof” their investment and upgrade with new solar panel technologies.
Reliability: The arrays combine industry-proven silicon cells, durable reflector materials and single-axis tracking into a complete, easy-to-deploy system.
Scalability Built primarily out of commodity materials with globally available manufacturing processes from the PV and automotive industries,the HGS 1000 simultaneously improves financial payback and scalability.
The commissioning of the Nipton plant highlights Skyline Solar’s rapid and strategic growth over the past two years. After securing financing in September 2008, Skyline Solar announced its unique HGS architecture in May 2009, followed shortly by the completion of the company’s first demonstration plant with the Santa Clara Valley Transit Authority in San Jose, Calif. In October, the company tapped Cosma, an automotive supplier, as a manufacturing partner as Skyline Solar ramped up to commercial production. More recently, the company was awarded one of the first patents under the US Patent & Trademark Office’s Green Technology Pilot Program, covering key elements of Skyline Solar’s HGS architecture. The Nipton plant is another step in Skyline Solar’s development of upgradeable, pre-engineered solar energy systems that address global demand for scalable, cost-effective solar energy. Sustainable Investment of San Francisco syndicated the funding for the system.
Skyline Solar skyline-solar.com
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