Amonix Introduces CPV System

I'm having trouble reconciling Amonix's claim that their Amonix 7700 "is the first CPV system capable of converting one-fourth of the sun's energy into usable electricity," when this other company claimed that they demonstrated 30% efficiency from CPV in 2006.
http://www.solarsystems.com.au/35pc%20receiver%20news%20item.pdf

Amonix' web site claims also that they are "...the world's first and leading designer and manufacturer of proprietary patented high-performance High Concentration Photovoltaic (HCPV) power generation systems for large commercial and utility scale applications".

As a matter of fact Alpha Solarco, Inc., now SolarTech, Inc., designed and installed the first full size commercial HCPV tracking system for large commercial scale applications in 1989. It was operated for 10 years in Nevada, and SolarTech, Inc. is still marketing it world wide. See www.sst-usa.net for details.

Amonix is likely talking about module efficiency. Subtract some module array mismatch losses, ohmic wire losses, temperature losses and inverter losses and you will be closer to 20%. But that is still an impressive number. The big question will be how much a kWh costs over 20 years (LCOE = levelized cost of electricity).
It is not inconceivable that Amonix, Concentrix, SolFocus, Sol3G, Soalr Systems and friends will break below wholesale electricity cost in the next 4 years. Economy of scale is a chicken and egg problem and can only be overcome with massive subsidies in the beginning. Maybe the stars begin to align for the HCPV community under Obama....

I also thought that Amonix was likely talking about module efficiency, until I read their brochure saying
"Powered by the world's most efficient multi-junction solar cells, the Amonix 7700 delivers an industry leading system efficiency of 25% (AC, post inverter),"
http://www.amonix.com/amonix_products.html

But Amonix's 25% doesn't lead Solar System's 30% by my definition of "leading".

The Solar Systems result is also impressive, but, in the link above, they are referring to the DC output of their "receiver" (the component shown in the photo), not the whole dish system, and not post-inverter AC.

"AC, post-inverter" is probably the best measure of a system's utility, but one problem with it is that it incorporates an inverter efficiency (whichever one they're using), which is really independent of any particular CPV technology being demonstrated.

Mr. Brice is correct on two points. First, yes as I understood my conversations with Amonix, the 25% is a post inverter AC efficiency. Secondly, yes that does take into account the inverter efficiency, but to me that "plug ready" number makes the most sense for comparison's sake as it is the lowest point on the efficiency waterfall. Another thing to note from the comments above: I'm not too surprised that Mr. Blazev is splitting hairs about SolarTech Inc. being "first", as it is his company (which I don't think he mentions in his post). The bottom line to this investor is that Amonix technology represents almost 75% of the world's installed HCPV. The Solar space is new enough and has enough potential for explosive growth, I would think that all the players would be worrying about advancements in technology and processes, not nitpicking each other's marketing claims.

I'd be interested to know what is the cell efficiency and the receiver efficiency, but I don't have any money to buy something like that, and I don't much enjoy talking to sales guys.

You are right, Joe, we should concentrate on the technology, not on history. Yes, Amonix is our competitor, with some impressive achievements, and I did not mean to diminish their importance by splitting hairs about who's done it first. Nor do I have anything against Amonix. On the contrary; they are on the right track and the solar energy field is so huge that we'll need 100 Amonix and that many SolarTech solar equipment manufacturers in the coming years, so let's get back to work...and no more nitpicking.

Best regards,

Anco S. Blazev
President, CTO
SolarTech, Inc.
480-381-7502
www.sst-usa.net