Solar Systems Pty. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Silex Systems Ltd., has connected its 1.5 MW Mildura solar demonstration facility to the national grid in Australia.
The company says the 40-dish concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) system, located in northwest Victoria, is now providing electricity under a power purchase agreement with Diamond Energy. A similar 1 MW demonstration project is currently under way in Nofa, Saudi Arabia, and is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
‘If successfully commercialized, the deployment of utility-scale solar power stations around the world has the ability to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenues within a few years,’ says Silex CEO Michael Goldsworthy.
Silex says planning for a utility-scale 100 MW Mildura CPV facility is now under way, with construction expected to begin in late 2014, subject to securing a power purchase agreement and the finalization of funding arrangements.
