enXco, an EDF Energies Nouvelles Company (PARIS: EEN), and Solaria Corporation announced a five-year global supply agreement for Solaria’s concentrating photovoltaic (PV) solar modules.
The scale of the supply agreement was not disclosed. The companies said the agreement is a combination of a firm order and significant
options. enXco said it intends to use the solar panels in
utility-scale projects in the United States and Canada.
enXco also made a "small equity investment" in Solaria. The amount of the investment was not disclosed.
Solaria’s proprietary solar modules are designed to produce the same amount of electricity using less silicon than competing solar panels. The manufacturing process starts with standard crystalline silicon solar cells. The cells are singulated into strips and roughly half of them are used to make a second cell. The strips used for each cell are attached to a magnifying optical front cover, which effectively doubles the amount of light striking the cell, thereby making up for the reduction in silicon area.
Solaria raised $45 million in venture financing for the technology in May 2010.
Solaria headquarters are in California with global operations in Germany and India.
Concentraing photovoltaic solar power is just beginning to be incorporated into utility-scale solar projects. Earlier this month, Cogentrix Energy LLC, announced plans to build a 30-megawatts (MW) power plant in Colorado, using concentrating PV panels made by Amonix. The plant is the largest of its type planned for construction.
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