Tenaska Solar Ventures Selects Soitec’s CPV Technology to Generate Renewable Energy for SDG+E

Soitec, a company that provides progressive solutions to energy and electronic industries, declared that Tenaska Solar Ventures has selected its Concentrix concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) technology to generate 150 MW of renewable energy for San Diego Gas & Electric.

The proposed CPV solar power production plant called as Imperial Solar Energy Center (ISEC) west will come over a 1057-acre location in western Imperial County of Southern California. The Concentrix CPV solar power systems work more efficiently than the traditional solar modules and are suitable for deployment in hot and dry weather conditions. The double axis tracker feature incorporated in the CPV solar power systems facilitates tracking the movement of the sun all through the day and generates more energy. CSOLAR Development, a renewable energy business handled by Tenaska Solar Ventures will build and manage the functions of the ISEC West solar power plant. The company has entered into a 25 year power purchase accord with San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) to sell the power generated from the facility. The construction of the solar plant is expected to commence by 2013 and will get completed by 2015. The power produced from the facility is enough to meet the power requirements of around 55,000 homes in California.

In order to meet the CPV module requirements of the project Soitec is planning to construct a new production facility in the San Diego region. The proposed facility with a 200 MW annual production capability will provide CPV modules to the ISEC west facility as well as to the other utility-level solar projects coming up in the desert location.