Photovoltaic solar energy solutions company Millennium Electric TOU Ltd. has completed the construction of Italy's first solar power station for $600,000. The 50 kilowatt plant is part of an order for a nationwide network of solar power stations, which will generate an aggregate 10 megawatts (MW). 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 on 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 panels generated 20 MW of electricity in 2006.
Millenmium Electric president and CEO Ami Elazari said that the company's orders backlog for the coming years totaled $664 million. He added that the global solar energy market totaled $16 billion a year, and had double-digit annual growth.
Elazari owns 58% of Millenium Electric, and EIG owns the rest.
The company's patented technology, Multi-SPV/T/A Solar System (MSS) 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% of the sun's energy received into electricity, losing the other 85% as heat. The company's system utilizes this waste heat by installing water pipes behind the panel. The water cools the photovoltaic cells and results in a 30% higher photovoltaic efficiency in production of electricity. The thermal energy also makes hot water for household and industrial use.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on July 23, 2007
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2007