SolFocus & Samaras Expand Greek CPV Project to 10 MW

California, United States [RenewableEnergyWorld.com] SolFocus announced an agreement that dramatically expands its installation of solar concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) technology in Greece. Originally announced in November 2008 as a 1.6-megawatt (MW) deployment between SolFocus and Samaras Group, this new agreement increases the size of the project to 10 MW in recognition of the distinct financial and energy generation advantages for CPV in the geographic region.

This expanded agreement involves a joint effort between SolFocus, Samaras Group and its engineering company Concept. Over the past four months, the partners have investigated several sites and begun engineering plans for the installation.

“The swift expansion of this project resulted from the favorable political, economic and energy generation environment that exists in Greece for commercial solar technologies,” said Mark Crowley, chief executive officer and president of SolFocus. “2009 is truly the beginning of CPV commercialization and Greece is a front-runner. We expect that CPV will follow a similar growth path in other high-sun regions over the next several years.”

Spanning multiple sites in Greece, the deployment will have the capacity to produce 10 MW of power using the SolFocus 1100S system.