News

26 June 2009

 

Emcore to provide solar power to New Mexico’s largest electricity provider

Emcore Corp, which manufactures components and subsystems for the broadband, fiber-optic, and solar power markets, is to be the first participant in the distributed generation (DG) solar power program of PNM of Albuquerque, NM (New Mexico’s largest electricity provider, serving about 497,000 customers statewide as well as selling electricity on the wholesale market).

This follows the signing of a formal 20-year agreement consisting of 114kW of solar power generated by second- and third-generation concentrator photovoltaics (CPV) systems installed onsite next to Emcore’s corporate headquarters in Albuquerque. The power is fed to Emcore’s buildings through a PNM-approved REC (renewable energy credit) meter. Although over 1MW of Emcore’s CPV systems have been deployed across seven sites worldwide, this is the firm's first DG application.

“This is a significant milestone in advancing solar power applications for both Emcore and PNM,” says Emcore's chief operating officer Christopher Larocca. “The DG program allows power to be generated close to the point of use and distributed without requiring a comprehensive transmission infrastructure,” he adds. Emcore’s CPV systems are suited to such applications because of their cost competitiveness and high energy-conversion efficiency, he claims. “We look forward to pursuing additional distributed generation programs with PNM as well as other utility companies.”

“Our large solar program announced earlier this year is just one of the many ways we're working to provide more environmentally friendly, renewable sources of electricity into our overall energy portfolio,” says Sue Fullen, PNM’s VP of marketing & customer service.

A commemoration event is taking place on 25 June at Emcore’s headquarters, attended by PNM and local government officials.

See related item:

Emcore sees late-quarter pick-up in demand

Search: Emcore CPV

Visit: www.emcore.com

Visit: www.pnm.com