Isofoton to supply 250MW of ‘made in Ohio’ CPV panels

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http://www.semiconductor-today.com/news_items/2011/JULY/ISOFOTON_160711.html

Isofoton of Malaga, Spain is to supply about 250,000 concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) panels for the 49.9MW Turning Point Solar (TPS) plant, the construction of which was announced earlier this week. When operational, TPS will be the largest PV project in the USA east of the Rocky Mountains.

TPS is being developed by AEP Ohio (a unit of electric utility firm American Electric Power of Columbus, OH) and Turning Point Solar LLC, which is a joint venture formed last October between Agile Energy Inc of San Bruno, CA (which develops utility-scale photovoltaic plants in North America) and New Harvest Ventures (a renewable energy development firm led by Woodland Venture Management co-founders David Wilhelm and Craig Overmyer). The solar farm will be located on a reclaimed 750-acre plot in Noble County (in rural Appalachia) formerly used for coal extraction. Construction will begin in summer 2012 and should be completed in 2015.

“The selection of Isofoton panels for this project will support our ambitious US expansion plan,” says Isofoton’s chairman Angel Luis Serrano. “The State of Ohio has made a firm commitment to renewable energy, and we are equally committed to Ohio, which offers the talent, natural resources and support that we need to build and operate our new PV factory,” he adds.

It was announced on 6 July that Isofoton had chosen Napoleon, OH as the new home for its North American manufacturing facility. Contingent upon state approvals, the Ohio Department of Development will offer assistance of $15.8m to leverage Isofoton’s pledged $16.4m investment. The plant should produce its first modules in 2012.

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