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Introduction to the Si-Con™ range
Concentrated PV technology has brought about a great revolution in the renewable energy industry and after many years of intensive research into this field Silicon CPV plc launches the Si-Con™ range of systems.
The driving force of the design and development process was the vision to produce grid connected CPV systems that had the lowest possible installed cost per Watt while remaining extremely reliable.
The ultimate objective of the Company is to supply CPV products to generate electrical power at a cost that will reach grid parity in countries with good levels of sunlight by as early as 2010 and far sooner than other high concentration PV systems currently in the market today.
With the rapidly rising cost of conventional fuels, the deployment of the Si-Con™ range of products will help to realize the full potential of electrical power generation from clean solar energy.
The systems implement many innovative and patented components which help to reduce the final installed cost. The innovative design of the products ensures an efficient manufacturing process which also helps to drive down the installed cost and reduces the manufacturing energy payback period.
The Si-Con™ product range includes:• Si-Con™ 120X MCPV module This is a medium concentration ratio module suitable for high precision tracker units such as the Si-Con™ Tracker, and for large scale Solar Farm deployment
• Si-Con™ 4X LCPV module This is a low concentration ratio module suitable for fixed-tilt systems or for use with lower precision single or dual axis trackers
• Si-Con™ Tracker This is a high precision tracker and is targeted for use in large grid connected applications such as solar farms. All of the products in the Si-Con™ range are manufactured to the highest quality and have been designed for fast installation and reliable operation. Further information about these exciting and innovative products can be found in our product literature.
About Silicon CPV plc
Silicon CPV plc is a spin off from the successful Akhter Group based in the UK. The Akhter Group was founded in 1979 by Professor Humayun Mughal and is a successful long established player in the electronics, semiconductor and IT field.
Driven by a passion for alternative clean energy solutions and growing pressures to reduce worldwide Carbon emissions, Professor Mughal founded Silicon CPV plc with the goal of designing and manufacturing solar power plants and products, primarily based on Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) technologies.
Vision
‘To develop and manufacture advanced CPV systems that will greatly reduce the cost of generating clean electricity from the Sun’s energy.'
We fully expect that our innovative and patented disruptive technology will enable us to bring forward the point of grid cost parity to as early as 2010 as shown in the following diagrams :
Grid Cost Parity Forecasts (Click here)
Research and Development
On-going intensive research is a core principle of Silicon CPV plc. The Company spent five years researching the available and emerging solar technologies and in the process forged many long term relationships with learned institutions including Universities. From this research the Company developed its range of Si-Con™ medium and low Concentration Photovoltaic Systems
Disruptive Technology
The capital cost of PV has been reducing on average 5% per annum and expected to continue at this rate over the next 5 years. This still requires some form of subsidy, feed in tariff or Tax rebate, to make it viable until 2015. Silicon CPV Plc’s “Si-Con” technology provides the step change necessary to enable PV to compete with the fossil fuel based electricity generation by 2010.
The research team at Silicon CPV plc worked hard to develop concentrator technologies which greatly reduces the area of costly Silicon required to generate the same amount of power as a conventional one-sun flat-plate PV system. This disruptive technology, while using proven silicon single junction cells reduces the amount of Silicon required and significantly lowers the installed cost per Watt of PV plant.
It was an early design decision to develop both 4X and 120X concentrator products within the Si-Con™ range. Systems with high levels of solar concentration (e.g. 500X-1000X) are more expensive and are more critical in terms of tracking tolerances, setup, operation and maintenance. The products developed by Silicon CPV plc
utilise patented concentrator and tracking technologies
to enable the manufacture of very cost effective systems
whilst still ensuring a high level of quality, reliability and
ease of deployment.
Summary
Silicon CPV plc is firmly established to take advantage of its accumulated product development and manufacturing expertise, specifically:
• The manufacture of flat plate PV modules at the Pakistan factory
• The manufacture of the Si-Con™ product range
• The installation and maintenance of solar farms using Si-Con™ technology
• Licensing of its disruptive Si-Con™ technology to third party manufacturers
Professor Humayun Mughal
with Si-Con™ 120X MCPV module