Analysis
Business & Environment Awards: Soitec wins a prize in the Innovation in eco-technology category
Soitec received a prize today at the Business and Environment Awards1 handed out at the Pollutec industry fair. The group received a special distinction in the Innovation in eco-technology category for its CPV technology (concentrated photovoltaics), which provides a competitive solution to the growing demand for renewable energies.
SoitCPV technology is thus highly promising for utility-scale solar farms in very sunny regions. It has numerous benefits, including electricity generation costs that are 10% to 20% lower than with conventional silicon technology, better handling of peaks in energy consumption, more rapid energy payback times, a high level of durability, negligible water consumption, the use of recyclable materials, and scalability, which means that facilities ranging from one to several hundred megawatts can be designed.
Soitec’s technological expertise in innovative materials will play a key role in improving the performance of photovoltaic cells for CPV systems. It will complement the expertise developed by the teams of Concentrix Solar, a Soitec subsidiary since late 2009, in the design of highly efficient CPV systems for solar power plants.