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Conergy installs thin-film solar energy tracking system

The system employs former military software, solar tracker and thin-film combination to optimize solar energy output on sunny and overcast days.

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By: DAVID SAVASTANO

Contributing Editor, Coatings World and Ink World, Coatings World and Ink World Magazine

Solar energy experts at Denver-based Conergy Americas and officials at California’s South San Joaquin Irrigation District (SSJID) have installed what they say is the world’s first single-axis solar tracking system featuring thin-film photovoltaic cells. The 419-kilowatt system went live in late March. It is the second phase of a 1.6 MW solar energy solution that will save the irrigation district nearly $400,000 a year in utility costs, allow it to collect millions of dollars in state cash incentives and stabilize customer costs in the midst of a statewide water crisis.

The project, known as the Robert O. Schulz Solar Farm, will also provide a cost-benefit analysis on how two distinct solar energy solutions – crystalline panels and thin-film – perform under a range of climatic conditions.

SSJID provides irrigation water for 55,000 acres in the surrounding area. The Solar Farm will handle nearly all the power needs of the nearby Nick C. DeGroot Water Treatment Plant, which processes 40 million gallons of water per day for 155,000 residents and businesses in the cities of Manteca, Tracy, Escalon and Lathrop.

“The application of thin film on a solar tracking system as a way to optimize energy output in perennially dusty or overcast areas is generating a great deal of excitement not only among those in areas with conditions similar to the Central Valley, but among economic policymakers and environmental stewards in Washington, D.C.,” said SSJID General Manager Jeff Shields. “We’re eager to continue our work with Conergy to bring this solution – and the important data it’s generating in our cost-benefit analysis – to light,” he added.

“The project’s main goal was to stabilize electrical costs, which can spike substantially in summer months given local time of use (TOU) metering;” said SSJID Utility Systems Director Don Battles. Both projects are hooked into the state’s electrical grid, which means the district will be able to sell its surplus, peak-time energy back to the local utility.

Conergy designs, manufactures, installs and finances solar photovoltaic solutions for major commercial sectors, public agencies, businesses and homeowners through two distinct channels. Conergy’s Projects Group focuses on custom solutions for large-scale, energy-intensive enterprises; Conergy’s Distribution Group serves a national network of installers, developers and dealers in the grid-tied and off-grid residential realm, while also addressing the needs of small commercial markets.

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