Munich-based Solar Cube GmbH has just completed mounting the system supply and works on a 6MWp project in Greece, described by the company has “one of the largest photovoltaic power plants in Greece”.
The facility, covering 15 hectares, is owned by the company Terna Energiaki and is located in a municipality near Athens. Solar Cube has provided the new fast installation KIVO-CR4 series PV mounting system to support over 25,476 Yingli 235Wp modules, as well as the ramming service for more than 3,500 piles during a short period of under three months.
“We are very proud to have our newest series steel mounting system used in the development project of Terna Energy. The high quality of the system and the unique design helping installers achieve 50% less time for assembly and installation, makes KIVO series ideal for large and utility scale PV projects, commented Panos Bitarchas, Solar Cube’s CEO.
His company reports that the array will supply enough clean energy to meet the demand of more than 2,000 average Greek households per annum, and will avoid more than 7m200 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
Five-year plan for Spain
Across the Mediterranean, another German solar company, Gehrlicher Solar, has announced plans for major investments in the South of Spain.
During a 20 October meeting, the President of the region of Murcia in southern Spain, Ramón Luis Valcárcel, learnt about Gehrlicher Solar’s plans for the region from the company’s founder and CEO, Klaus Gehrlicher.
During the meeting, Gehrlicher set out the company’s investment package for Murcia over the next five years and expressed his gratitude towards the region’s government regarding their support for solar PV.
“The strategy of Gehrlicher Solar España is to continue to expand throughout the region of Murcia. Thus we are working on the development of plants with lower capacity for the next two years, as well as on the planning of major projects with a total capacity of 200 to 400 MWp,” Gehrlicher said.
Gehrlicher also presented the five projects with a total power of 12 MWp which the company has carried out in the region this year. Three of them have already been connected to grid in the municipalities of Lorca, Cartagena and Murcia. The grid connection of the other two projects sited in Lorca is scheduled for the end of this year. These five ground-mounted photovoltaic plants involved an investment of approximately €32 million. Gehrlicher Solar Spain has installed a total of 23 MWp of solar power in 2011, most of them ground-based.
Not stopping in Europe
Francisco Espín, CEO of the Spanish subsidiary has also revealed plans for further projects in several Spanish provinces, as well as an outlook on the company’s business in South America, which is operated by Gehrlicher Solar España: “We are currently starting expansion in South America, precisely in Brazil, where we are present with own branch since December 2010. We will soon start the construction of the first system on a soccer stadium in Latin America – the Pituaçu Stadium in Salvador de Bahía with 403 kWp power. The next targeted market is Chile, where we are currently establishing a subsidiary,” he said.
The progress of Solar Cube and Gehrlicher Solar is clear proof that German solar companies are surviving the dip in domestic demand due to the German government’s decision to cut feed-in tariffs for solar energy earlier this year by looking abroad. This trend is likely to continue, especially given that Germany – historically the leading PV market in the world by a long way – has announced it will slash support for solar PV by a further 15% from 1 January 2012 under its flexible cap system. The move comes as 5.2 GW was installed in the country last year, surpassing the 4.5-GW threshold after which cuts would kick in automatically. If more than 5.5 GW had been installed, the 2012 cut would have been even greater at 18%.
[Photo: Gehrlicher Solar's founder and CEO, Klaus Gehrlicher, during the October meeting in Spain]
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