News Article
Nazca Completes Installation of Record Solyndra Project in France
Nazca a platinum provider of Solydra’s cylindrical PV rooftops has completed a Solyndra 1.28 MW System on “Port de Barcelona” Warehouse.
US firm Solyndra, a manufacturer of cylindrical photovoltaic (PV) systems for large commercial rooftops, has announced that Nazca, a Platinum Solyndra Solution Provider, has completed a 1.28 MW solar system installation on a large warehouse close to Toulouse, France.
The warehouse was built by the GSE group, of which Nazca is a subsidiary, and subsequently sold to the “Port de Barcelona,” one of the main commercial transport and distribution arteries in the Mediterranean area. The port of Barcelona is a founding member of the Toulouse Goods Terminals which were created to bring port services closer to end customers. This is the largest Solyndra system in France and one of the largest worldwide.
“We expect the French solar industry to focus on innovative and high value rooftop installations in the next year and this project, with a strong partner like NAZCA, stands as a great example of the benefits of Solyndra solar systems,” said Clemens Jargon, Solyndra’s president of EMEA and managing director, Solyndra GmbH. “In a short amount of time, they were able to install the Solyndra system with more than 70% net photovoltaic roof coverage, resulting in a maximized
power density and renewable energy production.”
“This was a large undertaking for Nazca and the Solyndra product and tight support teams made it easy to install the panels and bring the project to the roof quickly,” said Julien Puel, CEO of Nazca, SAS. “GSE Group, who rents the warehouse rooftop and operates this MW size Solyndra PV installation, is demonstrating its commitment to sustainability and green business practices while achieving a fair return on their system investment.”
The building concept is exploiting a number of Solyndra system advantages including the system’s light weight. Solyndra’s non-penetrating mounting system, with no ballast, allowed Nazca to design a system that generated significant power without requiring additional engineering. The system, installed on a new, white reflective “cool roof,” consisted of more than 7000 Solyndra panels and will generate 1360 MWh/year of photovoltaic electricity. According to the EPA carbon calculator this is the equivalent of powering 600 households.
Michel Hugues, GSE founder and president, stated, “Solyndra has proven itself in hundreds of installations around the world and we are confident that this system will produce the energy and revenues that we have modeled. Solyndra has a wealth of reliability and performance data that was very helpful as we worked to secure financing for the system.”
Nazca acts as a fully integrated EPC contractor. The scope of services cover: (i) overall project development (choice of technology, installation design, building and waterproofing audit), (ii) PV plant construction, (iii) grid connection, (iv) operations and maintenance of the system. Nazca was founded by GSE in late 2007, and has ever since developed and implemented photovoltaic systems in excess of 10 MW. Their project portfolio exceeds 30 MW, exclusively in the French market at the time being. For 2011, Nazca contemplates international development.
Solyndra designs and manufactures solar photovoltaic systems for the large commercial rooftop market. Using proprietary cylindrical modules and thin-film technology, Solyndra systems are lightweight and non-penetrating, and the fastest and easiest to install solar panels for rooftop applications. This allows Solyndra to achieve the lowest system installation costs on a per watt basis for the commercial rooftop market. Solyndra manufactures its rooftop solar panels and unique greenhouse solar system in the United States and is headquartered in Fremont, California.
