News Article
Industrial Scale Power Systems give Opel Solar the edge
The company says there has been a significant increase in requests for quotes on HCPV solar panels and ground-based and rooftop tracker systems since late 2008.
Despite the global recession, Opel Solar, a global supplier of high concentration photovoltaic ("HCPV"), has reported a sharp upturn in requests for quotes on industrial scale solar power systems in North America and abroad.
Solar panels and other solar products, including utility scale ground-based tracker systems and unique light weight rooftop tracker systems, is reporting a sharp uptake in requests for quotes on industrial scale solar power systems in North America and abroad.
Leon (Lee) M. Pierhal, CEO of Opel Solar said, "With the worst hopefully behind us, there is no question that both governments and investors alike are reaffirming their interest and commitment to solar power in a big way. Since late 2008 when the credit markets first crashed, we have seen a significant increase in requests for quotes on both our HCPV solar panels and our ground-based and rooftop tracker systems.”
Opel Solar, who use gallium arsenide in their solar concentrating photovoltaic technology, produces high performance solar panels that can generate up to 40% more kilowatt-hours than conventional flat plate silicon solar panels.
The firm will also manufacture its utility scale TF-800 tracker line, which it developed with FEiNA, in the United States. The TF-800, a ground mounted single axis tracker has proved to be very attractive commercially because of its ease of installation and its reverse tracking ability to avoid shadowing from adjacent trackers.
Pierhal attributed the increase in quote activity to Opel Solar's reputation for technological innovation, the completion of a 330-kilowatt HCPV utility grade power plant in Spain with its Spanish partner BETASOL last October, and its plans to participate in a 1 megawatt (MW) HCPV installation in Portugal with Tecneira S.A., the Portugal renewable energy company. Both installations, which are eligible for Feed-in-Tariffs (FIT), will provide investors with a guaranteed rate of return.
In commenting on the dramatic growth in quoting on utility scale solar installations, Pierhal also noted an especially sharp and recent focus in the marketplace on solar power installations of at least 1 MW in size.
Pierhal said, "Opel Solar has been selected to install an initial 1 MW solar power plant in France using Opel Solar's advanced HCPV panels. Closer to home, we are also partnering with one of the largest engineering and construction companies in the world to build utility scale solar power farms in North America. Neither the private sector, nor forward-looking countries want to mortgage their future or straitjacket their ability to compete globally by relying exclusively on more traditional fossil fuel sources,"
Pierhal added. "Solar is not only here and now, it's a very viable and cost-effective alternative."
