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Boeing subsidiary Spectrolab Inc of Sylmar, CA, USA has received a third multimillion-dollar contract award from Solar Systems Pty Ltd of Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia for concentrator photovoltaic cell (CPV) assemblies.

Spectrolab will provide solar cell assemblies capable of generating more than 350MW of electricity. When combined with the previous contracts awarded in April and August 2006, Solar Systems has ordered about 360MW of PV cells from Spectrolab.

The latest order will be used in the new 154MW solar power station to be built in the state of Victoria, in addition to other power stations throughout Australia and the USA.

“Solar energy is in high demand, and our record-breaking conversion efficiency of over 40% is an industry best,” says Spectrolab’s president David Lillington. “Our partnership with Solar Systems has resulted in the demonstration of affordable and reliable concentrating solar power systems.”

Also, in late March, OPEL International Inc of Shelton, CT, USA, a manufacturer of high-concentration photovoltaic (HCPV) solar products, signed a five-year solar cell supply contract with Spectrolab, in which it will place individual incremental orders for solar cells every year.

To cover its initial HCPV production requirements, OPEL placed an initial firm purchase order for 10MW of high-efficiency triple-junction solar cells for delivery in 2008. Spectrolab has already started shipments.

OPEL’s products are based on technology developed in cooperation with the University of Connecticut and the Canadian National Research Centre in Ottawa, Onatario. The firm has been awarded 23 patents and has 23 more patents pending.

Used in conjunction with OPEL’s concentrating PV technology, Spectrolab’s triple-junction cells can each produce 15-17W, representing 37% efficiency.

“We look forward to supplying OPEL and its customers with even better efficiency ratings, reaching 40% in 2010,” says Dr Raed Sherif, general manager, Terrestrial Photovoltaic Products for Spectrolab.

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