Eco Factor: World’s largest solar facility with 6600 thin-film solar cells to generate more than a million kilowatt-hours annually.
Global Solar Energy has announced that the world’s largest CIGS thin-film solar array began full operations on Wednesday. The facility is located in Arizona and consists of 6600 thin-film solar cells that generate 750 kilowatts of power. The ground mounted solar array will provide 1.1 million kilowatt-hours of green electricity annually.
The plant is owned and financed by MMA Renewable Ventures, which will sell the generated power to Global Solar under the terms of a long-term commercial financing agreement. CIGS or copper indium gallium diselenide thin-film solar cells use highly-available raw materials instead of silicon, which reduces the cost per watt of the electricity being produced. Apart from generating renewable electricity, the array will also provide about 25 percent of the manufacturing facility’s electricity needs and will prevent about 30,000 tons of carbon dioxide from being released in the atmosphere during its lifetime.
The Dark Side:
CIGS thin-film solar technology enables companies to produce cheap solar power. This reduction in cost per watt comes on the cost of efficiency and lifespan.
Via: CleanTechnica
