Eleven Megawatt Photovoltaic System Inaugurated in Portugal

http://www.solarbuzz.com/News/NewsEUPR337.htm

Spread across a hillside pasture amid olive trees, 52,000 shimmering photovoltaic modules in one of the world's largest solar power plants have begun generating enough electricity for 8,000 homes, GE, PowerLight Corp. and Catavento SA announced today.

After eight months of construction and testing, GE Energy Financial Services, a unit of General Electric, PowerLight, a subsidiary of SunPower Corporation and Catavento dedicated the 11-megawatt Serpa solar power plant today, on schedule. The facility -- a model of clean power generation integrated with agriculture -- is in one of Europe's sunniest areas, in Portugal's Alentejo agricultural region in the town of Serpa, 200 kilometers (124 miles) southeast of Lisbon. GE Energy Financial Services financed and purchased the project in an approximately US $75 million transaction last year.

The plant uses PowerLight's innovative PowerTracker(R) system that follows the sun's daily path across the sky to generate more electricity than conventional fixed-mounted systems. Catavento, a leading Portuguese renewable energy company, developed and manages the project, which began feeding Portugal's electricity grid in late January.

Kevin Walsh, Managing Director and leader of renewable energy at GE Energy Financial Services, said today at a dedication ceremony in Serpa: "This project is successful because Portugal's sunshine is plentiful, the solar power technology is proven, government policies are supportive, and we are investing and delivering under GE's ecomagination initiative to help our customers meet their environmental challenges."

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http://www.solarbuzz.com/News/NewsEUPR336.htm

Xantrex Technology today announced that its inverters have been installed by Grupo Enerpal for a 800 kilowatt (kW) photovoltaic solar project in Brazatortas, Spain.

The PV system is the largest in Ciudad Real, a province of central Spain, in the southwestern part of the region of Castile La Mancha. Eight Xantrex GT100E (100 kW) inverters were installed and efficiently convert direct current power from solar panels into high-quality alternating current electricity for delivery to the electrical grid. Xantrex GT100E inverters meet both CE and Spain's RD 1663/2000 requirements.

The PV system consists of 2256 mono-crystalline modules TSM-175M (Enerpal-Trina) with 175 watts-peak (Wp) power each, divided into four installations of 100 kW, and 2208 mono-crystalline modules TSM-180M with 180 Wp each, also divided into four installations of 100 kW.

The installation is running at full capacity and has an equivalent output of approximately 1450 hours of sun light per year, which will provide more than 504.000 Euro (US $670 thousand) in annual revenue.

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