Soitec (SOI.PA) announced that it will build a new factory near San Diego to produce its concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) panels for use in a 150-megawatts power plant in Southern California.
Tenaska Solar Ventures is developing the power plant on 1,057 acres in Southern California’s western Imperial County, and has chosen to use Soitec’s Concentrix CPV panels.
The power plant, named Imperial Solar Energy Center (ISEC) West, is expected to be completed in 2015.
Soitec said the new San Diego factory will have an annual production capacity of 200 MW, and will supply other utility-scale projects in addition to the Imperial Valley power plant.
Concentrix says its CPV solar power systems are more efficient and
perform better than conventional solar systems, particularly at
locations with extremely hot ambient temperatures and dry weather
conditions.
San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) signed a 25-year power-purchase agreement with a subsidiary of CSOLAR Development, LLC, a renewable energy company managed by Tenaska Solar Ventures that will develop and operate the ISEC West solar power plant.
Construction of the new power plant and factory is expected to create hundreds of clean energy jobs in the area.
According to Dave Fiorelli, President of Tenaska’s Development Group, “The ISEC West solar power plant will demonstrate Concentrix CPV scalability, and commercial viability of this innovative technology for utility scale deployment.”
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