SolFocus and its solar developer partner Solar Smart Living, today announced that they have completed a 53 kW concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) installation which will be owned by El Paso Electric. The solar power installation was developed by El Paso-based Solar Smart Living using six SolFocus SF-1100S tracking CPV systems. The installation is located at El Paso Electrics substation facility.
This project signifies El Paso Electrics continued commitment to add renewable energy generation to the region in a sustainable manner, said Rocky Miracle, Senior Vice President of Corporate Planning and Development for El Paso Electric. The installation is El Paso Electrics first owned facility with CPV technology and dual-axis tracking.
El Paso Electric is using the installment, in part, to evaluate CPVs potential in the region. In solar-rich places like El Paso, SolFocus CPV technology yields significantly more energy than any other solar technology.
SolFocus systems are ideal for deployment in the very sunny locations that El Paso Electric serves, said Mark Crowley, CEO of SolFocus. SolFocus is eager to work with its partners Solar Smart Living and El Paso Electric to show how CPV can deliver the strongest solar energy harvest available for the region. We are finding that municipalities throughout the sunny Southwest U.S. are seeing the benefit of high efficiency technology in providing them low cost solar energy.
The SolFocus systems are quite flexible to install, allowing us to deliver significant electricity output from a small, irregular-shaped piece of land with minimal construction time, said Larry Perea, president of Solar Smart Living.
Solar Smart Living, a full-service solar integration and green building consulting company, oversaw the engineering, procurement and installment of the system.
SolFocus CPV technology employs a system of patented reflective optics to concentrate sunlight 650 times onto small, highly efficient solar cells. The SolFocus SF- SF-1100S system deployed in El Paso features dual-axis tracking for consistent energy delivery. It also offers environmental benefits including no water usage for energy production, a small land footprint with dual use potential, and no permanent shadowing or wildlife corridor disruption. Additionally, SolFocus CPV provides the shortest energy payback and lowest greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity of any solar technology.
A ribbon cutting ceremony was held on October 28, during a tour offered as part of the Border Energy Forum. Local elected officials will join executives from El Paso Electric, SolFocus and Solar Smart Living for the event. The tour will leave from the El Paso Convention Center at 1:00 p.m. and will stop at the SolFocus installation, along with visits to other innovative energy projects happening around the city.
