EMCORE Corporation

Company Description

EMCORE Corporation is a leading provider of solar power components and systems for Concentrator Photovoltaic (CPV) applications. Our high-efficiency multi-junction solar cells are the foundation for EMCORE’s terrestrial solar product offering. Multi-junction cells have a significant advantage over conventional silicon cells. They have a conversion efficiency over 40% and can be utilized in systems concentrating solar flux over 1000X, thus requiring fewer solar cells to achieve the same power output.

EMCORE’s Photovoltaic Cells are grown on germanium substrates and incorporate a proprietary antireflective coating providing low reflectance over a wavelength range of 0.3 to 1.8µm. They are characterized and optimized for terrestrial applications under concentrated incident illumination and high-current densities.

These high-efficiency solar cells are incorporated into our Terrestrial Receiver Assembly with protective bypass diodes and electrical connectors on a high-thermal conductivity substrate. The Terrestrial Receiver Assembly is easily integrated into virtually any system design and functions as the photovoltaic engine of concentrating PV systems.

EMCORE offers both commercial rooftop and ground mount utility-scale concentrator photovoltaic systems. These systems utilize optical lenses and mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto the solar cell resulting in very high power density. This is significant when considering the inherent efficiency advantage of the multi-junction technology over silicon solar cells. The use of concentration allows substitution of cost-effective materials such as lenses and mirrors for more costly semiconductor PV cell material, and results in much higher power per area versus competitive technologies.

EMCORE’s Soliant 1000 Commercial Rooftop CPV System delivers a powerful, reliable and cost-effective solar solution for commercial rooftops with high-energy demands and limited space. It can deliver more than 500 watts peak with EMCORE's proprietary high-powered receiver, fresnel lens and TipTilt Tracking™ system which tracks the sun's movement within 1/10 of one-degree.

EMCORE’s Concentrator Photovoltaic GEN 3 System is designed for utility-scale solar installations in high-irradiance locations. This system achieves 26% DC efficiency at 1090X concentration and utilizes accurate 2-axis tilt/roll sun tracking to capture even more of the available sun energy. The high-energy output and the savings in costly semiconductors make the application of CPV technology economically advantageous.