25 January 2012

GreenVolts partners with Independent Solar Developers to provide CPV to agriculture

Concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) system maker GreenVolts Inc of Fremont, CA, USA, which provides what it claims is the industry’s only complete and fully integrated solar system, has announced a strategic partnership with Independent Solar Developers LLC (ISD) of Coachella, CA, a turnkey solar system developer, owner and operator that specializes in providing solar energy solutions for Southern California agricultural applications.

Picture: ISD installs GreenVolts in California's Coachella Valley.

Using solar energy for agriculture is a large and untapped opportunity, says GreenVolts. In California alone, agricultural businesses require over 2000MW of capacity and use more than 10TWh annually. These businesses have plenty of land and sun, and are very interested in lowering their cost of electricity, which can exceed 20% of production costs.

GreenVolts and ISD have worked closely together to develop a solution that provides long-term, economical electricity supply along with a unique set of land use, project planning, installation, and operational benefits tailored to the agricultural market. ISD can also provide financing, overcoming the primary barrier for most projects. With their first project installed and operating in California's Coachella Valley, and others in progress, the firms are delivering tailored solutions for irrigation, cattle, food processing, and other agricultural applications.

A complete system from one supplier with a single, overall, 20-year warranty presents advantages to an owner considering solar energy,” says ISD’s principal Peter Molloy. “GreenVolts is high performance, rugged, and an overall excellent fit for agricultural applications,” he believes.

GreenVolts claims that its CPV systems are the most efficient solar technology available for hot, sunny environments such as the Southwest US agricultural areas. The modular design can be configured for distributed loads, such as irrigation pumps located on different parcels of land, or scaled up to meet higher demand, such as refrigeration in the processing of vegetables. ISIS, the energy management software included with the system, allows remote monitoring and management of all the systems from anywhere on the Internet.

“ISD has established themselves as a total solution partner to their customers, going beyond just solar,” says GreenVolts’ president & CEO David Gudmundson. “They offer energy analysis, system audits that include usage and load patterns, financing, and operations and maintenance,” he adds. “Our installation for irrigation in Coachella Valley went well, and we already have projects for several different applications underway.”

Tags: GreenVolts CPV

Visit: www.greenvolts.com