Soitec (Euronext), a world enterprise in generating and manufacturing revolutionary semiconductor materials for the electronics and energy industries, announced on December 2nd that a group of investors – including a large European energy supplier, the largest Portuguese installer of electrical grid infrastructure and the largest Portuguese Foundation – has completed financing and started construction of a 1.3-MWp concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) power plant in Portugal. This CPV solar plant is the first to be funded by the partnership, demonstrating the various stakeholders’ strong confidence in CPV technology and its ability to fulfill Portugal’s plans for generating cost-efficient renewable energy.

Financial stakeholders in the project include Enovos, Luxembourg’s main energy supplier operating also in Germany, France and Belgium, and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, a Portuguese private institution of public utility whose statutory aims are in the fields of arts, charity, education and science. The CPV plant’s installation is being managed by EIP (Electricidade Industrial Portuguesa) while Luz-On is the project developer and Soitec is supplying the CPV equipment ─ all being also shareholders of the project company.

The new CPV plant is being built in Alcoutim, in Southern Portugal, one of the sunniest regions in Europe. As one of 11 projects that the Portuguese government has authorized to spearhead the development of CPV in the country, it will serve to demonstrate the suitability of CPV technology. Electricity will be produced by 82 Soitec systems, which use Soitec’s Concentrix™ CPV dual-axis tracking technology. Soitec’s CPV modules are more than twice as efficient as conventional photovoltaic modules.

With installations in 18 countries around the world, Soitec’s CPV technology has proven to be the most efficient and environmentally friendly solution for generating solar power. It demonstrates unique cost competitiveness compared to other solar technologies, largely due to its higher production yields throughout the sunlight hours. In addition, CPV technology’s ability to operate without cooling water and withstand hot ambient temperatures while having minimal environmental impact make it perfectly suited for use in locations such as Portugal.