SunPower, a manufacturer of solar panels and systems, has said that it is building a 1.3MW solar power plant in the Lazio region of Italy for Solar Green Energy-SGE, a joint venture between EDF Energies Nouvelles subsidiary EDF-EN Italia and Italian project developer Emmecidue. The plant is expected to be operational by the end of this year.
SunPower said that it will install its 96-cell, E 18/305 solar panels with an efficiency of 18% or higher, on SunPower T0 Tracker systems at the 4.7 hectare site in Ferentino, Frosinone province.
According the company, the tracker follows the sun during the day and delivers up to 25% more energy than fixed-tilt systems, requiring only half the land area to produce the same amount of energy as conventional dual-axis trackers.
Bruno D’Onghia, president of EDF EN Italia and Solar Green Energy-SGE, said: “SunPower’s solar power plant experience in Italy and worldwide, as well as the company’s high efficiency technology, gives us confidence that this system will be well built in a timely manner, and will maximize the clean, renewable solar power that is delivered to the community, including to the nearby Nestle ice-cream factory.”
EDF-EN Italia uses SunPower E 18 series solar panels at 6.5MW of solar power plants currently operating in Italy, and is installing an additional 2.8MW of SunPower technology for plants under construction.
SunPower recently finalized the acquisition of SunRay Renewable Energy, an European solar power plant developer with a principle project office in Rome. With the acquisition, SunPower expanded its pipeline of solar power plant projects to more than 1200MW in Italy, France, Israel, Spain, the UK and Greece.