by Jbs031710 j3 — March 22, 2010—Chevron Technology Ventures plans to break ground in the spring of 2010 in Questa, New Mexico, on a 1-megawatt (MW) concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) facility, the largest of its type in the United States and one of the largest in the world, according to news from the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
EERE explains that CPV systems employ lenses to concentrate the sun’s rays on relatively small, high-efficiency solar cells. Although the cells are typically expensive, the CPV technology reduces costs by requiring fewer cells, although that is offset somewhat by the need for a solar tracking system, adds EERE.
Chevron Technology Ventures selected Concentrix Solar of Germany to install its proprietary CPV system, which uses a two-axis tracking system and Fresnel lenses to focus solar rays on triple-junction solar cells. The facility will include about 175 high-efficiency solar panels placed on about 20 acres of land. The electricity produced will be sold to the Kit Carson Electric Cooperative.
Concentrix already installed a demonstration system on the University of California San Diego campus in July 2009, achieving system efficiencies of 25%, reports EERE.
Chevron Technology Ventures will build the CPV facility on the tailing site of a molybdenum mine operated by sister company Chevron Mining Inc., demonstrating one way to take contaminated lands and use them for the production of renewable energy. This is an idea currently being explored by the U.S. government, including the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) “RE-Powering America’s Land” initiative.
