San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) said it is working with subsidiaries of Soitec Solar Development, LLC, to develop a combined capacity of 30 MW of solar energy. SDG&E signed contracts this week to develop three solar power plant sites in San Diego County using Soitec’s Concentrix technology.

The contracts come as California Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation which requires utilities to generate one-third of their power from renewable sources by 2020, including solar, wind, and others.

The concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) modules will be manufactured in a Soitec factory to be built in the San Diego area. Including the three new contracts, SDG&E has signed nine renewable contracts over the past year for more than 1,100 MW of green energy, with nearly 520 MW from solar power, including a contract for up to 150 megawatts that also uses Concentrix technology, said James P. Avery, SDG&E’s senior vice president of power supply.

These three projects will produce enough renewable solar energy to serve more than 11,200 households a year and further contribute to SDG&E reaching its RPS goals. The projects will deploy ground-mounted dual-axis tracking CPV solar power systems, which use lenses to concentrate sunlight onto very small, extremely efficient solar cells which convert the light into electrical energy.

Soitec CEO André-Jacques Auberton-Hervé said the CPV systems are well suited for projects close to well-populated areas. The efficiency of CPV minimizes the amount of land needed for a given amount of electricity production, he said.

Soitec will implement capacity investments and pursue options for related financing to construct its San Diego area factory. At full capacity, Soitec’s San Diego area operations will generate up to 450 direct jobs and more than 1,000 indirect jobs. The factory location is anticipated to be announced this summer, with completion expected within 18 months of construction start. Soitec’s delivery of the CPV systems for these three new solar energy facilities in San Diego County will begin in 2013 and finish in 2014.

Tags: CPV, Soitec, solar

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