Next generation Concentrator Photovoltaic (CPV) Technology planned for NELHA site KAILUA-KONA, July 17
KAILUA-KONA, July 17 /PRNewswire/ -- A Hawaiian-style blessing of a solar
array precisely tilted to take full advantage of the sun officially welcomed
SolFocus, a Mountain View, California-based solar technology company, to
Hawaii. SolFocus introduced its new Concentrator Photovoltaics (CPV) to
public officials and guests at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii (NELHA)
on the Big Island.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080717/LATH099)
The blessing was presided by Kahu Danny Akaka Jr., and SolFocus CEO Gary
D. Conley. During the ceremony, Conley recognized SolFocus partners in the
technology project, NELHA, represented by Will Rolston, and the Hawaii County
Economic Opportunity Council, represented by Max Goldberger, who was
instrumental in bringing SolFocus to the islands.
In the past year, SolFocus has been collaborating with NELHA to test its
CPV systems to assure that the technology is ideally suited to a tropical
island environment. Conley also announced plans to expand the test site with a
second generation CPV array in the near future.
"With this first array, we want to seed the market with solar energy
technology that works," Conley said. "We moved SolFocus from my garage in
2005, and from a two-person operation, we now have 120 employees in six
locations. We didn't wait for government subsidies because we felt it was
imperative we get to work now. We got here through collaboration and
partnerships, like our partnership with NELHA, which provided us with a
fantastic combination of geography, climate and people. It's the diversity of
people that make us strong."
Goldberger thanked Conley for "making CPV technology a reality in Hawaii."
Elizabeth Corbin, acting Energy administrator of the State Department of
Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, spoke on behalf of Governor Linda
Lingle, talked about the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative, which aims for 70
percent renewable energy by 2030, and noted that the state is installing a
number of solar energy projects, including a 12 MW PV system at Kona Airport.
Deputy Managing Director Barbara Kossow represented Big Island Mayor Harry Kim
at the event.
SolFocus' goal is to make solar electricity more cost competitive with
traditional, fossil-fuel power generation. The company's CPV technology uses a
system of non-imaging optics to magnify the light from the sun 500 times onto
small, highly efficient solar cells. SolFocus CPV systems use 1/1000th of the
active, expensive solar cell material compared to traditional photovoltaic
panels, thus accelerating the trajectory for solar energy to reach cost parity
with traditional energy sources. CPV solar panels are made mostly of readily
available and cost-effective materials such as aluminum and glass. These CPV
systems deliver zero emissions energy, have the lowest carbon footprint in
manufacturing, and are over 95-percent recyclable.
SolFocus integrates its CPV panels with an intelligent tracker that
continuously aligns the solar array with direct sun rays throughout the day as
the sun moves across the sky. SolFocus tracking systems are also being used
with traditional PV, as the tracker's high degree of accuracy allows PV
systems to produce as much as 40 percent more energy over fixed PV
installations.
SolFocus CPV technology was developed in collaboration with research,
scientific, and engineering institutions such as the University of California
at Merced, Ben Gurion University in Israel, the U.S. National Renewable Energy
Laboratory (NREL), Polytechnic University of Madrid, and the Palo Alto
Research Center.
Headquartered in Mountain View, California, SolFocus has expanded its
operations to include SolFocus Europe in Madrid, Spain and SolFocus Glassworks
in Mesa, Arizona. This privately held company has raised $96 million in
venture funding since its founding in 2005. For more information, please visit
http://www.solfocus.com.
SOURCE SolFocus
