Tokyo-based Solar Frontier K.K. (a subsidiary of Japanese energy business Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K.) – the largest manufacturer of CIS (copper indium selenium) thin-film photovoltaic (PV) solar modules - and Iberdrola Ingenieria & Construcción Mexico S.A. de C.V. have announced completetion of the delivery of 1.5 megawatt peak (MWp) of modules to a 5MW Iberdrola plant in Cerro Prieto, Mexico.
The Cerro Prieto project is owned by the state-owned electric utility company CFE, and will be the largest PV installation in Mexico when it goes into production by the end of 2012. The project is the first for Solar Frontier in the rapidly growing Central and South American market.
Iberdrola is combining Solar Frontier technology with competing technology in the project. Solar Frontier says that the hot climate and mounting on mono-axial trackers will be an opportunity to show the advantages of its CIS technology's lower temperature coefficient (valued for better performance in hotter conditions compared to crystalline silicon).
Iberdrola Ingenieria & Construcción Mexico S.A. de C.V. belongs to the Spanish group Iberdrola (one of the world's largest energy suppliers, with extensive experience in renewable energy). Its goal by 2020 is to produce 20% less CO2 per kWh than the overall European electricity sector.
"This is a significant opportunity for Solar Frontier to strengthen its position in the regions served by Iberdrola to Iberdrola's high standards," says Wolfgang Lange, managing director of Solar Frontier Europe in Munich, Germany. "We are demonstrating to our most discriminating customers that CIS technology delivers more kWh over the lifetime of a project for a lower cost," he adds.
