Italy gets first solar power plant
Montefalcone, Italy, July 23, 2007
Source: Earthtimes.org
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/85957.html
Israel-based Millennium Electric TOU Ltd. has completed construction of Italy’s first solar power station. The 50-kilowatt plant is part of an order for a nationwide network of solar power stations, which will generate an aggregate 10 megawatts, Globes Online reported. The company is scheduled to complete the project in five years. The first solar power station will begin operating immediately.
The power station was built in Montefalcone in southern Italy for ES Energy, which operates a multi-megawatt wind driven turbine power station on the site. The present contract deviates from Millennium Electric’s business policy in that the company usually only signs contracts through which it both builds solar power stations using its technology for the customer, as well as shares in the power station’s sales.
Millennium Electric develops and manufactures photovoltaic panels and builds power stations based on them. The company’s patented technology, Multi-SPV/T/A Solar System collects the sun’s visible and infrared wavelengths, and cools the photovoltaic cells, which generate electricity and makes the heat available for thermal control of a building. A photovoltaic cell converts almost 15 percent of the sun’s energy received into electricity, losing the other 85 percent as heat.
The company’s system utilizes this waste heat by installing water pipes behind the panel. The water cools the photovoltaic cells that company officials say results in a 30 percent higher photovoltaic efficiency in production of electricity.