Last week, the two companies unveiled their Maricopa Solar power plant to company partners and media only four months after breaking ground on the project. One of the project's centerpieces was the new SunCatcher solar panels produced for SES by Tessera.
The solar energy systems consist of 38-foot mirrored parabolic dishes and use an automatic tracking system to make it easier to convert solar thermal energy into grid-quality electricity. They also use no water in their functions and have a low capital cost. After initially being designed through a public-private partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy, they are currently slated to go into high-volume production this summer.
"As we prepare for full-scale production and deployment of the SunCatcher in 2010, we’re currently planning the construction of a commercial-scale reference plant later this year and actively building our project pipeline across the Southwest," added Bob Lukefahr, CEO of Tessera Solar North America told the Energy Business Review. "Our projects will break ground next year, with the goal of producing 1,000 MW by the end of 2012.”
The Maricopa Solar plant consists of 60 SunCatcher units that will provide 1.5 megawatts of solar power to residents in the Greater Phoenix area.
