San Jose-based printed solar cell make Nanosolar has seen power from its largest solar photovoltaic (PV) installation to date, a 10.63MW project in the Valencia town of Alfarrasi.
“Natural conditions in the Valencia region are excellent for photovoltaic and we expect Spain to be among the first countries to provide competitive solar electricity in Europe.” said Nanosolar v-p of sales Stephan Hansen. “Our installation supports Spain’s national renewable energy action plan which calls for renewable sources to account for at least 20% of the final energy consumption by 2020.”
It is capable of producing 16,500MWh/year, claims the firm. Which it equates to savings over 5,000 tonnes of CO2, and further equates to planting 142,000 trees.
Nanosolar's technology is thin-film printed CIGS (copper, indium, gallium, selenium) on aluminium foil. It has a roll-to-roll cell factory in San Jose, and panel assembly in Luckenwalde, Germany.The company’s current product is the Utility Panel, of which around 50,000 were installed across 65 acres of former agricultural land in a semi-arid region with mild winters and long warm to hot summers. Solar irradiance is "above-average at approximately 1,650 kWh/m2", said Nanosolar. Typical annual temperature is 22.3°C.
The farm was developed by Smartenergy Invest and Advanta Capital, and built by Valfortec. it was energised earlier this month.
