Solar Frontier K.K. (Tokyo, Japan) has delivered 80 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules for the Catalina Solar Plant in Southern California. The plant in Kern County will be the world's largest copper indium gallium diselenide (CIS or CIGS) PV plant when complete.

EDF Renewable Energy (San Diego, California, U.S.) will develop, build and own the Catalina Solar Plant, which will have a capacity of 143 MW when complete. The companies expect to commission the first 50 MW phase of the plant by the end of 2012, and to complete the entire plant by June 2013.

"This year, Solar Frontier will approach a cumulative total of a gigawatt of installations worldwide from the time of its founding," said Solar Frontier Americas Chief Operating Officer Charles Pimentel.

"With CIS demonstrating advantages from desert to tropical to sub-zero climates, our modules are especially well-suited to the range of conditions here in California, where their higher kilowatt-hour production in real conditions ensures improved project economics."

"EDF Renewable Energy’s vote of confidence in both our CIS technology and Solar Frontier is something we are very proud of as we continue to grow in the Americas markets."

Environmentally sensitive packing solutions

Solar Frontier delivered the modules using its packaging and shipping solutions, which include reusable plastic module corner pieces and steel-resin pallets for minimal waste. The company estimates that by incorporating these solutions it reduced the module-container density of global shipments by 130%, as well as reducing the rate of breakage.

Solar Frontier is a subsidiary of Show Shell Sekiyu K.K. (Tokyo, Japan).

2012-10-02 | Courtesy: Solar Frontier | solarserver.com © Heindl Server GmbH

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