The HCPV installation, which is one of the first commercial installations in the world, now generates 220 kW of electricity to the power grid and provides increasing revenue for BETASOL. OPEL unveiled this photovoltaic power plant to potential customers in a four-day early summer preview event. The installation is located in the Tarragona region of Spain, a prime location for solar development.
The preview event demonstrated one of the first operable solar grid fields in the world using OPEL's HCPV leading edge solar technology. Attendees at the unveiling were prospective customers, technical institutions and investors from across Europe and Africa. Visitors touring the system site saw that this leading edge solar technology is now a scalable source of solar electric power generation.
OPEL built this installation with its Mk-I high concentration panels (HCPVs) mounted on dual axis trackers. The combination of OPEL's HCPV panels and precision dual axis trackers results in a higher power production per unit of land (acre/hectare) than silicon or thin film flat panels with a potential to increase photovoltaic yields by up to 40 percent. The balance of the installation is expected to be done during the third quarter of 2009. When the project is fully completed, it will supply electricity to over 350 households.
"We are pleased to have hosted potential customers enthused to see OPEL's HCPV system because they can experience first-hand HCPV and its ability to have a major impact on the future of solar technology across European, African and other global markets," said Robert Pico, CEO of OPEL International.
"Being able to visit BETASOL's solar grid farm and to see OPEL's HCPV panels mounted on dual axis trackers vividly demonstrated that advanced HCPV technology is ready now to deliver scalable electric power," said Laurent Pignol, Responsable Montage et Financement de Projets for CARI Construction Services Compris, one of the leading French construction companies.
"We at BETASOL are very pleased to unveil this project for potential customers and investors to witness the deployment of renewable solar electricity to the power grid using HCPV, one of the most advanced solar technologies in the world today," said Jesus Cabetas, Managing Director of BETASOL. "Our partnership with OPEL is an outstanding success. Visitors can see the system's efficiency using HCPV panels on dual axis trackers, thus making the rate of return provided by the Spanish feed-in tariff structure even more attractive to investors."
According to the firm, OPEL's concentrating solar photovoltaic Mk-I HCPV panel design is a cost competitive solution concentrating light from the sun more than 500 times. This technology has conversion efficiencies up to twice those of silicon flat plate solar panels and more than three times that of thin film solar panels.
OPEL plans additional customer visits to the site in September and will continue to report on its progress with this leading solar technology as it completes the final phases of this project.
About OPEL International
With operations headquartered in Shelton, CT and Toronto, Ontario, Canada, OPEL designs, manufactures and markets high performance concentrating photovoltaic ("HCPV") panels to transform solar energy into electricity for worldwide application. OPEL's high performance photovoltaic concentrating panels generate up to 40 percent more kilowatt-hours than conventional flat plate silicon solar panels, resulting in more cost-effective electricity generated from the sun. OPEL also markets a complete line of dual and single axis solar trackers to mount solar panels for optimum power output. OPEL also designs infrared sensor type products for military and industrial applications.
A leader in gallium arsenide and solar photovoltaic technology, the Company has been awarded 39 patents and has eight more patents pending. OPEL's common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "OPL".