Solar Frontier wins bid for world’s largest commercial CIS plant in California

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  The view across Solar Frontier's 2MW PV system atop its Kunitomi, Japan, factory. (Photo by Tom Cheyney)

Solar Frontier has defied the thin-film doom merchants by successfully bidding for the role of module supplier for enXco’s 100MWp+ PV plant in California. The agreement refers to the supply of up to 150MWp of Solar Frontier’s CIS modules, and the project, when completed, will be the largest thin-film CI(G)S plant in the world.

Construction of the plant will take place in two phases. The first phase will see the installation of approximately 60MWp of modules by the end of 2012, with the second phase commencing soon afterwards, with completion scheduled for June 2013.

This deal’s significance lies in the fact that it marks the first major project win for Solar Frontier. The company shipped a 26MWp module order at the end of 2011 to the Catalina Solar Project in Kern County, California, but has otherwise been relatively inactive in terms of large-scale installation supplies. Further information on Solar Frontier's technology and plans for 2012 is available here.
 
“This is a landmark moment not only for Solar Frontier but the CI(G)S industry as a whole,” said Gregory W. Ashley, chief operating officer of Solar Frontier Americas. “We have demonstrated successfully that the unique characteristics of CIS technology are compelling to major customers by delivering more kWh over the lifetime of a project for a lower cost. We see this project as a launch pad for ever greater CIS achievement in the United States and across the world. We are pleased to work with enXco, which has shown its commitment to the industry by continuing to develop and build utility scale solar projects.”