GREEKS FLY TOWARD SUN

There are a variety of competing solar power plant technologies, ranging from arrays of the familiar photovoltaic (PV) panels that collect sunlight to drive electrons to a variety of exotic systems that use mirrors to concentrate the sun’s heat to drive a turbine.

SolFocus Inc. has developed a combination of the technologies. Like the PV arrays, the technology is ultimately about collecting and driving electrons but, like the concentrators, it combines a lens with each panel to concentrate the sun’s light on highly efficient PV panels, achieving much higher levels of electricity output both by capturing more light and transforming more of what is captured into flowing electrons.

Another advantage of the SolFocus technology is that its PV panels are smaller and made from low-cost materials instead of silicon, a commodity sometimes in short supply and subject to price run-ups.

Concentrating Solar to Reach 18 Gigawatts by 2020, an important new study from Greentech Media and the Prometheus Institute for Sustainable Development, predicts (1) the bulk of the solar industry’s 300-gigawatt capacity in 2020 years will come from traditional PV panels, (2) the “mirror” technologies will be the biggest type of “concentrating” solar, providing 12 gigawatts in 2020, but (3) concentrating PV technologies like the one developed and marketed by SolFocus will double to 6 gigawatts of capacity.

The strengths of concentrating PV are efficiency and affordability when silicon prices spike. Limitations include the need for direct sunlight (such as that in southern Europe and the American Southwest) and some technical bugs.

Ron Kenedi, vice president of Sharp Solar Energy Solutions Group: "It's still a few years out, but there is a spot for this…"

SolFocus has found ideal proving grounds for its technology in Greece, where it will partner with Samaras Group subsidiary Concept on a sprawling, multi-site, 1.6-megawatt installation under that Grecian sun that was so intense and direct it melted the waxen wings of Deadalus when he flew too near it.

What caused Deadalus to fall will lift SolFocus up.

SolFocus has also lined up a 10-megawatt project in another ideal local, southern Spain.

click for the complete Global Green 2008 Global Solar Report Card report on Greece

Greek Power Plant to Use New Solar Technology
Jim Carlton, Ddecember 15, 2008 (Wall Street Journal)
and
SolFocus and Samaras Group to Develop First Commercial Solar Project in Greece Using Concentrating Photovoltaic (CPV) Technology; Pioneering Agreement for 1.6MWp of High Efficiency Solar to meet Demand of 2500 Users While Curbing Carbon Emissions from Fossil Fuel Sources
December 15, 2008 (SolFocus)

WHO
SolFocus Inc.( Mark Crowley, president); Samaras Group subsidiary Concept (Dimitrios Samaras, president)

WHAT
SolFocus and Concept will jointly develop the first commercial installation of Concentrator Photovoltaic (CPV) solar technology in Greece.

click to enlarge

WHEN
- Installation will begin in Spring 2009. Output is planned for Summer 2009.
- SolFocus was founded in 2006. It has $96 million in venture capital since. It expects to raise $60-to- $80 million more by the end of January 2009.
- Samaras Group was founded in 1992.

WHERE
- The deployments in Greece and Spain will be over multiple sites.
- SolFocus integrates its CPV panels with a tracking system that continuously aligns the solar array with direct sunlight as the sun moves across the sky, matching energy generation with demand.
- SolFocus will partner wth EMPE Solar on the installation in Southern Spain, the biggest concentrating PV project in Europe.
- In a solar-rich country like Greece, the level of the SolFocus efficiency could bring solar energy-generated electricity to cost parity with fossil fuels.
- SolFocus will a subsidiary office in Greece.
- SolFocus is based in Mountain View, California with a European headquarters in Madrid, Spain, and manufacturing facilities in Mesa, Arizona, India and China.
- Samaras Group is based in Thessaloniki, Greece.

From SolFocusInc via YouTube.

WHY
- The SolFocus/Samaras project will have a 1.6-megawatt peak capacity.
- The SolFocus 1100S CPV’s optics concentrate sunlight 500 times onto small, highly efficient solar cells to achieve 25% panel efficiencies, the highest available today.
- The 1100S uses ~ 1/1,000th of the solar cell material of other PV technologies.
- The 10-megawatt project in southern Spain will cost $103 million.
- The SolFocus mission: Solar energy-generated power at a Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) competitive with fossil fuel sources.
- SolFocus will soon have contracts to install up to 20 megawatts of capacity. The company will invest the venture capital it has raised to increase its manufacturing capacity.
- Samaras Group is a consultancy specializing in the New Energy projects and electromechanical installations.

The fall of Daedalus. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
- Dimitrios Samaras, president, Samaras Group: "We view this groundbreaking project as the beginning of a promising collaboration with SolFocus…As two pioneering companies, we will introduce the unrivaled efficiency of CPV solar technology to Greece and other regions in Southern Europe."
- Mark Crowley, president, SolFocus: "As a respected developer of renewable energy, the Samaras Group has high expectations for technical performance. The group's selection of the new SolFocus system validates the real-world performance, efficiency and scalability of our technology…Our partnership will enable SolFocus to expand into the lucrative Greek market, which is boosted by favorable incentives and strong demand for electricity…We are extremely pleased to be taking this pioneering step with the Samaras Group who is well-known for advancing innovative technologies."