The German company announced the news earlier this month during the Intersolar North America trade show held in San Francisco (US). Concentrix Solar GmbH is a leading supplier of CPV systems and a division of the Soitec Group (Euronext Paris). It has launched a US-based subsidiary, hired additional industry professionals, and won listing from the California Energy Commission. According to the company, its utility-scale power plant technology “is proven and commercially ready for large-scale deployment with all the key capabilities in place for increasing the company’s business in the US”.
“With the development and growing importance of solar farms in the US, the time is right for us to form our US venture,” said Hansjörg Lerchenmüller, CEO of Concentrix Solar. “Due to our CPV technology’s extreme efficiency, modularity and flexibility, we are prepared to meet the needs and challenges of the US market.”
The company’s new US subsidiary – Concentrix Solar, Inc. – is based in San Diego, where Concentrix Solar installed a CPV demonstration system in July 2009 to test its solar modules under California’s climate conditions. Since its installation, the 6-kilowatt system has proven exceptional performance, achieving 25% efficiency in generating electricity.
After evaluating the market potential for Concentrix Solar’s CPV technology, the company decided to open this first US office which will be led by New General Manager of Business Development, Clark Crawford. Previously, Crawford led sales and marketing efforts at CPV systems supplier Amonix, Inc. He has a successful track record of securing large-scale commercial orders of CPV systems, and brings his extensive experience in the solar energy market to Concentrix Solar.
As Concentrix Solar expands its presence in the US, the company’s multi-junction CPV module has achieved a listing with the California Energy Commission (CEC). This listing is vital to doing business in California and a key step in financing commercial projects with customer companies and state energy utilities. Concentrix Solar’s CX-75 module has now been listed by the CEC after testing at TÜV Rheinland Photovoltaic Testing Laboratory LLC in Tempe, Arizona.
Apt for hot, arid Southwest
Concentrix Solar’s CPV technology is designed for use by large-scale solar power plants in hot, arid regions. With characteristics such as low heat degradation and high durability, the company’s equipment is well suited for power plant installations in the American southwest. Performance benefits include a constant power-output curve to maintain the electricity supply needed to meet peak-load demands, the ability to operate without active cooling mechanisms, and almost no energy loss at high ambient temperatures.
These attributes helped Concentrix Solar to win a project with Chevron Technology Ventures to install the energy giant’s first megawatt solar farm in the US at a site in New Mexico, as announced in February. Construction has begun on this project, which will be one of the largest CPV power plants ever built in the US. It is scheduled for completion before the end of this year.
Concentrix Solar operates a fully automated industrial production line in Freiburg, Germany, with an annual production capacity of 25 MW. Its FLATCON concentrator modules use Fresnel lenses to concentrate sunlight 500 times and focus it onto small, highly efficient solar cells that convert the light into electrical energy. With this technology, Concentrix Solar achieves AC system efficiencies of 25% – almost twice as high as those achieved by conventional silicon technology. As a result, Concentrix Solar’s systems can reduce the cost of electricity generation by 10 to 20% compared to other solar technologies, depending on the location of the installation.
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