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Archives: LCOE

The SunPower C7 Tracker: The Power of 7 Suns, the Lowest LCOE

by David Henry,  October 18, 2011 | Email this

A seismic shift in the solar industry has just taken place. Did you feel it?

Today, the SunPower C7 Tracker made its debut. This isn’t a routine product introduction – for utility and power plant owners and operators, it is a game-changer.

The C7 Tracker multiplies the sun’s energy by 700 percent, delivering the lowest Levelized Cost of Energy for utility-scale solar power plants – up to 20 percent lower than competing technologies. Combining a horizontal, single-axis tracker with rows of parabolic mirrors that reflect light onto SunPower’s highest-efficiency solar cell receivers, the C7 delivers unprecedented solar power production. With C7 Tracker technology, a 400-megawatt power plant requires less than 70 megawatts of SunPower solar cells.

Components of the C7 Tracker can be manufactured locally, creating new employment opportunities in addition to the jobs created to build and operate a new solar plant. The new SunPower C7 Tracker is also upgradeable. As solar cell technology evolves and improves, cells can be easily and cost-effectively replaced with newer, more powerful cells.  

What’s a better investment than SunPower’s proven, reliable product performance? Watch this video, and see for yourself. Once you’ve watched, tell us what you think below! Your comments are important to us. 
 
 
The new C7 Tracker is like nothing else available, anywhere. Visit our web site to learn more about the new SunPower C7 Tracker. Come back often for late-breaking news on the new SunPower C7 Tracker, and find out how SunPower technology can help utilities and power plant owners meet the global demand for clean, renewable solar energy. 

David Henry
David Henry
Chief Marketing Officer, SunPower Corporation
San Jose, CA, United States
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Posted in:
SunPower Products and Services ,About SunPower
Tags:
cpv ,power plant ,LCOE ,SunPower C7 Tracker ,concentrated solar ,solar cell efficiency

C7 Tracker Rocks Solar Power International Show, Offering the Lowest Levelized Cost of Electricity for Utility-Scale Solar

by David Henry,  October 20, 2011 | Email this

At midnight, Monday night, the word was out: The new SunPower C7 Tracker was unveiled. As the solar industry gathered in Dallas for Solar Power International (SPI) this week, they sure talked up this new concentrated PV tracking system. The SunPower® C7 Tracker concentrates the sun’s power seven times, delivering the lowest levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for utility-scale power plants – up to 20 percent lower than competing technologies.
 
Who’s behind this high-efficiency, cost effective C7 Tracker technology? The credit goes to SunPower President Emeritus Dick Swanson, Ph.D., whose vision for solar concentrator-based power plants stretches back four decades.
 
When the “first” energy crisis swept the U.S. in the 1970s, Dr. Swanson dreamed of constructing solar power plants in arid desert regions of the American Southwest. In those locales, he believed, the U.S. could easily convert the sun’s energy into usable power, and help reduce the country’s (and the planet’s) dependence on fossil fuels. However, Dr. Swanson was far ahead of the game. The market for utility-scale solar plants would not mature for many years. So SunPower changed course and adapted the high efficiency solar cell it had developed for concentrators for use in traditional flat solar panels —the most efficient panels on the market today.
 
Fast forward to year-end 2010, when the global cumulative installed solar capacity reached 40 gigawatts. As the demand for solar around the world has grown, so has the demand for solar power plants. We built the world’s first 10-megawatt solar power plant in 2004 in Germany, and SunPower will have more than 400 megawatts of power plants operating around the world by the end of 2011. All of these plants have used solar panels on single-axis trackers. 
 
For the past three years, however, our development teams have had lengthy dialogues with utility companies and solar power plant developers, assessing their needs. In response, SunPower engineers – who have unparalleled expertise in cells, modules, trackers, electronics and performance – collaborated in crafting a concentrated tracking product that leverages a decade of experience in reliable tracking systems and delivers the best economics over the long term. On October 18, with the release of the C7 Tracker, their efforts came to fruition… and Dr. Swanson’s dream became reality.

Rows of C7 Trackers
A Full View of the C7 Tracker
Rows of C7 Tracker Mirrors
Close Up of the Cells on the C7 Tracker
The Reflection of SunPower High Efficiency Cells off of the C7
A SunPower Engineer Assembling the C7 Tracker
A SunPower Team Inspecting a C7 Tracker
Easy Installation of Modular Designed Cells for the C7 Tracker
Installing Mirrors on the C7 Tracker
A SunPower Team Working on a C7 Tracker
Mirrors Ready for Installation onto the C7 Tracker
The Glare of the Sun off the C7 Tracker
A Tilted C7, Tracking the Sun
Reflection of the Sky off the C7 Tracker
Rows of C7 Trackers A Full View of the C7 Tracker Rows of C7 Tracker Mirrors Close Up of the Cells on the C7 Tracker The Reflection of SunPower High Efficiency Cells off of the C7 A SunPower Engineer Assembling the C7 Tracker A SunPower Team Inspecting a C7 Tracker Easy Installation of Modular Designed Cells for the C7 Tracker Installing Mirrors on the C7 Tracker A SunPower Team Working on a C7 Tracker Mirrors Ready for Installation onto the C7 Tracker The Glare of the Sun off the C7 Tracker A Tilted C7, Tracking the Sun Reflection of the Sky off the C7 Tracker

 
If you haven’t yet read the details, here’s a look at this exciting new product. And if it’s time to get your solar power plant project on track, talk to SunPower. High output for the lowest levelized cost – that’s the C7 Tracker.

David Henry
David Henry
Chief Marketing Officer, SunPower Corporation
San Jose, CA, United States
Make a Comment
Posted in:
SunPower Products and Services ,About SunPower
Tags:
cpv ,power plant ,LCOE ,SunPower C7 Tracker ,concentrated solar ,solar cell efficiency
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