EMCORE Corp. has signed a memorandum of understanding for the supply of between 200 MW and 700 MW of solar power systems that are scheduled for deployment in utility-scale solar power projects under development in the U.S. Southwest.
The company says it will supply and install turnkey solar power systems utilizing EMCORE's concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) systems developed at its Albuquerque, N.M., facility. The project developer, SunPeak Solar, is securing land and grid access throughout 2008, and project construction is expected to begin in early 2009.
‘We are very impressed that EMCORE has thought through the complete system and what is needed for successful deployments on a large scale,’ says David Rennie, CEO of SunPeak Solar.
‘We are very pleased to expand our deployment of utility-scale solar power systems in support of SunPeak Solar's projects,’ adds Earl Fuller, vice president and general manager of EMCORE's solar power systems division.
EMCORE notes that its CPV systems are optimized for a low cost per watt by virtue of the use of gallium arsenide-based multi-junction solar cells. These cells, operating with 500x concentration, retain high efficiency – even in the hot summers in the desert Southwest.
