PowerLight Corporation, the leading global provider of solar power systems, has completed the first phase (800 kW) of a 1 megawatt (MW) solar power project in Gwangju, Korea, located 200 miles south of Seoul. The system is owned and operated by Korea’s Solar & Park Co and is the largest elevated solar parking system in the world. Designed and installed by PowerLight, it employs its PowerTracker, a single-axis solar tracking system.
Mounted over a parking facility at the Kimdaejung Convention Center, the PowerTracker solar power system automatically follows the path of the sun through the day, maximizing energy output, and providing substantially more power than a fixed tilt system.
The energy produced by the system will be sold to Korea Electric Power Corporation at a fixed price set by Korea’s Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy for 15 years. The photovoltaic cells being used in the system were manufactured by Schott Solar.
“PowerLight is honored to have designed and developed the largest solar system in Gwangju, one of two designated Solar Cities in Korea,” said PowerLight chairman and CEO Tom Dinwoodie. “With the completion of this project and opening of our new office in Seoul, PowerLight is looking forward to taking an active role in Korea’s growing solar market, while helping the nation achieve its renewable energy policy goals.”
About PowerLight PowerTracker
The PowerTracker system features an innovative single-axis design that enables solar panels to automatically follow the path of the sun throughout the day to maximize energy capture. This system offers today’s most advanced solution for maximizing both solar energy production and financial project returns on large-scale solar projects. Fully scalable, PowerTracker systems can scale from several-hundred kilowatt sites to large multi-megawatt installations.
PowerTracker features an innovative backtracking capability to avoid shading across panels, which can result in solar panel hot spots that degrade performance over time. As a result, the system produces higher electricity output that can increase energy capture by up to 30% over today’s fixed tilt systems.
In addition, PowerTracker contains fewer moving parts than dual-axis tracking systems, thereby significantly reducing operating and maintenance costs. Combined with a considerably higher ground-coverage ratio that translates into a more efficient use of land, PowerTracker brings stronger financial returns for most large-scale solar power projects than dual-axis tracking systems. More than 50 MWs of PowerLight PowerTracker Solar Power Systems are now deployed, or actively in deployment, and generating clean electricity. PowerTracker has been selected as the solar power system of choice for GE (Serpa Power Plant, Portugal), Deutsche Structured Finance (Bavaria Solarpark I & II), Atersa (multiple solar power plants in Spain), and for many Fortune 500 customers throughout the United States.
PowerLight is being acquired by SunPower Corp, a leading solar cell manufacturer.
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