Solar Frontier Completes 80-MW Thin Film Project
October 3, 2012
Solar Frontier announced 80 MW of its CIS solar modules have been successfully delivered to the world’s largest CIS thin film solar power generation project. The modules will be part of a 143.2-MW installation in Kern County, Calif., developed, built and owned by EDF Renewable Energy, formerly enXco. The first phase of approximately 50 MW is anticipated to go online by the end of 2012, while the remainder of the project is targeted for completion by June 2013. The plant will generate enough clean energy to power the equivalent of about 35,000 homes annually and will offset about 74,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions every year.
“This year, Solar Frontier will approach a cumulative total of a gigawatt of installations worldwide from the time of its founding,” said Charles Pimentel, Chief Operating Officer of Solar Frontier Americas. “With CIS demonstrating advantages from desert to tropical to sub-zero climates, our modules are especially well-suited to the range of conditions here in California, where their higher kilowatt-hour production in real conditions ensures improved project economics. EDF Renewable Energy’s vote of confidence in both our CIS technology and Solar Frontier is something we are very proud of as we continue to grow in the Americas markets.”Solar Frontier delivered its modules to the Catalina project site in 623 shipping containers using its award-winning packaging and shipping solutions. Securing their modules on a custom-designed steel-resin pallet with reusable plastic corner pieces, Solar Frontier has increased the module-container density of worldwide shipments by 130 percent, cut its logistics carbon footprint by more than 10 percent, all while lowering its module breakage rate to a record 0.002 percent. The new packaging solution ensures that there is also no more than 5 cubic meters of on-site waste per megawatt-peak of modules shipped, helping customers install projects with minimum ecological impact.
Solar Frontier is the gigawatt-scale solar subsidiary of Japanese oil refiner, Showa Shell Sekiyu, with more than 100 years of experience in the energy industry. Its solar panels are manufactured at state-of-the-art factories in southern Japan and meet JET, IEC, UL, RoHS, and California Energy Commission standards. These high standards, and collaboration with world-class integrators, installers and energy providers such as Belectric, juwi and Granite Construction, ensure quality, durability and reliability. Solar Frontier’s modules are available from 140 to 160-W classes, running up to 13.0 percent efficiency and 14.1 percent aperture efficiency.
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