OPEL International’s Mk-I HCPV Solar Panels Obtain CE Qualification for Europe
Shelton, Conn and Toronto, Canada, Sept. 03, 2008
Source: OPEL International Inc, press release/MarketWatch
OPEL International Inc. (CA:OPL: news, chart, profile) (“OPEL” or “the Company”), a leading global developer and supplier of high concentration photovoltaic (HCPV) and other solar products, today announced that testing of its Mk-I HCPV solar panel verified that it qualifies under the provisions of the IEC 62108 standard. With the achievement of this milestone, OPEL has positioned itself to be a leading supplier of HCPV panels in the important European market and beyond.
OPEL’s Mk-I will now ship bearing the CE label indicating compliance with European market requirements, meeting the quality standard for PV products and other solar equipment in European markets. The CE certification of OPEL’s Mk-I product will allow OPEL’s customers to apply for permits and feed-in-tariff contracts, thereby accelerating the deployment of their planned installations.
In addition, with CE qualification completed, a number of market opportunities are now open for OPEL’s Mk-I
HCPV panels in other markets that use European standards as guidelines for their own installations.
“With this CE Qualification, we have achieved a very ambitious milestone that we set for ourselves earlier in the year, and done so ahead of schedule,” said Dr Javier Berrios, OPEL’s Vice President of Engineering. “I can’t be more pleased with our Qualification and the performance of the high efficiency Mk-I HCPV panel. Most importantly, our customers in Europe, Asia and the Mid-East will now receive Mk-I HCPV panels with CE labels for their applications.”
The Mk-I concentrates light more than 600 times and has one of the highest efficiencies of concentrators in commercial production today. The Mk-I was shipped to customers in the Czech Republic, France, Spain, Korea and the United States, for large scale solar grid field applications.