News

22 April 2010

 

OPEL Solar partners with Portugal’s Tecneira on one-megawatt solar plant

OPEL Solar Inc, a subsidiary of OPEL International Inc of Shelton, CT, USA and Toronto, Canada, which makes high-concentration photovoltaic (HCPV) panels and other solar products, has signed an agreement with Tecneira S.A., the Portugal renewable energy company of the ProCME Group. The firms have also gained their first HCPV solar project win.

Last month, the Portuguese government announced its commitment to renewable energy goals by 2020. As part of that commitment, OPEL Solar and Tecneira were awarded in the preliminary phase of projects, a one-megawatt solar concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) power plant installation. The project will be eligible for the Portuguese feed-in tariff (FIT).

Tecneira’s main business is the production of electricity from renewable power sources and its commercialization and supply to the public electrical grid. The firm focuses on the development of solar photovoltaic, wind farms, biomass, and wave energy projects.

“OPEL Solar is delighted to have the partnership with Tecneira as Portugal aggressively moves into CPV solar energy,” said Robert Pico CEO of OPEL Solar Inc. “We understand that for the project award OPEL Solar’s technology was viewed as one of the most innovative and utility scalable to achieve Portugal’s solar energy goals for CPV.”

“Tecneira believes in the competitive advantages that OPEL Solar’s HCPV technology offers our company. Putting the HCPV panels on solar trackers will optimize the electrical production for this solar power plant,” said Alda Delgado, CEO of Tecneira, S.A. “We look forward to working with OPEL Solar on this first installation and other projects in the future.”

The new one-megawatt solar plant will be located in Alqueva in the Moura Region of southern Portugal. OPEL Solar will build the installation with its Mk-I HCPV solar panels mounted on dual axis trackers. According to the firm, combination its HCPV panels and dual axis trackers results in a higher power production per unit of land than silicon or thin film flat panels, with a potential to increase photovoltaic yields by up to 40%.

See related item:

OPEL and BETASOL secure Spanish feed-in tariff for 330kW HCPV solar farm

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