On November 10th, 2011 the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved 25-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) under which San Diego Gas and Electric Company (SDG&E, San Diego, California, U.S.) will purchase the electricity generated by five proposed concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) projects near San Diego, California.

Developer Soitec SA (Bernin, France), plans to commission the five CPV plants between February and December 2014. The plants will have a total output between 114 MW and 160 MW, and will utilize Soitec's Concentrix CPV technology.

CPV modules to be manufactured in Soitec factory in San Diego

Four of the plants will be located in Boulevard, California, and the final one will be located in Borrego Springs, California. All five are far larger than any currently operational CPV plants in the world.

Soitec will manufacture CPV modules for the plants in a new factory which it plans for the San Diego region.

The CPUC states that these PPAs further California's progress towards reaching its target of 33% renewable energy by 2020.

2011-11-11| Courtesy: California Public Utilities Commission; Image source: Soitec SA | solarserver.com © Heindl Server GmbH

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