Photovoltaic news and pv jobs

First project for SunPower’s new CPV tech

The Arizona State University (ASU), Salt River Project (SRP) and SunPower Corp. announced today that a one-megawatt (MW) project will go ahead, the first to use SunPower’s C7, concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) technology. SunPower hopes the trackers can achieve the lowest levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for photovoltaics.

SunPower C7 CPV tracking technology was released in October, 2011. Image: SunPower.

The C7 CPV technology employs rows of parabolic mirrors to reflect sunlight on to SunPower Maxeon solar cells. The cells have an efficiency of 22.8 percent.

SunPower claim that by using the mirrors, the LCOE can be reduced by up to 20 percent. This is because  the number of solar cells required is reduced. For the one-MW system, only 172 kilowatt of solar cells will be required.

In a statement announcing the agreement, John Sullivan highlighted the C7 trackers’ potential to reduce costs. "As we continue to add resources to our sustainable portfolio, SRP is very interested in finding new low-cost and efficient renewable-energy technologies that can help keep our customers' prices low.

Recently the SRP has entered into three power purchase agreements (PPA) with photovoltaic suppliers. These included a 19-MW plant and a 20-MW facility, the latter being designed and built by SunPower.

The one-MW plant using SunPower’s CPV technology will be built on the ASU’s Polytechnic campus. Its output will be purchased by SRP from SunPower, which will then on-sell it to the ASU. The ASU plans to generate 20 MW of solar energy by 2014. As of the end of 2014, the tertiary institution had achieved 14.5 MW in photovoltaic capacity.