Pictures and video here of the 2x 8700 Solar Power Generators now installed and commissioned outside the Visitors Center at Bryce Canyon National Park in Bryce Canyon, Utah.  With 1.75 million visitors to this park each year, these solar arrays have a strong chance of being the most FAMOUS solar power system in the world!  If you get a chance to visit this beautiful park, please do take a walk around the nature trail which circles the systems and check out the interactive display in the lobby.  If you can’t make it to Utah, then check out this virtual tour by NPS Park Ranger Kevin Poe below!

Bryce Canyon 8700 Systems generating in November, 2015

End of the day for the 8700 Systems on a November, 2015 day

Arzon Solar Director of Systems Engineering Ivo Gough Eschrich stands in front of 4x 8700 Solar Power Generator systems installed and commissioned at the UASTP Solar Zone in Tuscon, AZ.  The 4x new systems add  0.3 MW of additional capacity to the existing site.  The systems are owned by a private industrial customer and are operating under an existing PPA with Tuscon Electric Power.

Signs of fall are here in this picture of our single uModule system, and the two uModule uM2 system here at the Arzon Solar Outdoor Test Yard!

Arzon Solar is pleased to announce that we will have a booth at the Solar Power International Conference in Anahiem, CA next week.

Please stop by to talk about the latest solar happenings and to see new pictures and information about Arzon Solar technology and products.

See you there!

The team here at Arzon Solar is pleased to announce a new product, the uM6-Silicon dual axis tracking system for high performance, stand alone solar power generation.  Using our expertise in dual axis tracking for CPV, Arzon Solar has developed a robust, low cost and highly flexible silicon module dual axis tracking system with specifications superior to other dual axis trackers on the market.  The uM6-Silicon system holds up to 44x 60 cell, 250 – 350 W silicon modules, is easy-to-install, includes plug & play tracker functionality and quick-mounting module attachment for a host of poly and mono-crystalline modules on the market.

Please see the detailed specifications of this new product on the uM6-Silicon product page, and please connect with our team on the Product Inquiry page for more information on pricing and availability for your application.

Rendering of the uM6-Silicon dual axis tracking solar generator in a normal tracking mode.

Rendering of the uM6-Silicon dual axis tracking solar generator looking at the back of the system.

The team here at Arzon Solar is pleased to announce a new product, the uM2-Silicon dual axis tracking system for high performance, stand alone solar power generation.  Using our expertise in dual axis tracking for CPV, Arzon Solar has developed a robust, low cost and highly flexible silicon module dual axis tracking system with specifications superior to other dual axis trackers on the market.  The uM2-Silicon system holds up to 16x 60 cell, 250 – 350 W silicon modules, is easy-to-install, includes plug & play tracker functionality and quick-mounting module attachment for a host of poly and mono-crystalline modules on the market.

Please see the detailed specifications of this new product on the uM2-Silicon product page, and please connect with our team on the Product Inquiry page for more information on pricing and availability for your application.

Rendering of the uM2-Silicon dual axis tracking solar generator in a normal tracking mode.

Rendering of the uM2-Silicon dual axis tracking solar generator in a wind stow mode.

The team here at Arzon Solar wanted to share some first pictures of the uM6-CPV Solar Power Generator currently installed and under test at a facility in Torrance, CA.  This is a 16 kW CSTC system engineered to deliver maximum energy per installed area through integrated dual axis tracking and high efficiency Arzon Solar uModules.  Continue to stay tuned for other exciting project & product updates from our team over the next several weeks.

uM6 – CPV Solar Power Generator at dusk

The team here at Arzon Solar wanted to share a picture of the uM2-CPV Solar Power Generator currently under test at our facility in Seal Beach, CA.  This is a 5.4 kW CSTC system engineered to deliver maximum energy per installed area through integrated dual axis tracking and high efficiency Arzon Solar uModules.  Stay tuned for other exciting updates from our team over the next several weeks.

The team here at Arzon Solar is often asked to compare our uModule performance to that of conventional c-Si flat plate modules.  So, the purpose of this blog post is to show a clear example of how the Arzon Solar uModule compares kWh to kWh against using conventional c-Si flat panels, in this case the Astronergy 300 Silver Poly CHSM 6612P-300.

A to-scale rendering of the number of fixed tilt c-Si panels needed to match the energy generation of a uM2 in a high DNI environment.

First, the calculations.  In a high DNI environment (Palmdale, CA in this example), Arzon Solar uModule generates about 2,600 kWh / kW CSOC, with a uM2 CSOC rating of 4.6kW.  So, a single uM2 generates 4.6*2,600 = 11,960 kWh / yr.

A fixed tilt mounted flat panel can be expected to generate about 1900 kWh / kW STC.  The STC rating of a single 77″ x 40″ panel is 300W.  So, we have 11,960 /1,900 = X * 0.3, solve for X and we get 21.  Without considering the fact that uModule suffers only 30% of the temperature degradation of s-Ci modules, or the lower annual degradation rate, we would need 21x 300W Astronergy panels in a fixed tilt mounting to meet the same energy generated by a single uM2.  So, we add 1x more panel, to make up for the temperature and degradation characteristics, as well as make a more symmetric scaled picture above. 🙂

The result is simple.  uModule systems take less space and deliver more energy per given land then conventional c-Si modules.  Don’t you deserve more energy from your land?  We think so.

The entire Arzon Solar team is really excited to finally be unveiling the uModule CPV platform.  We wanted to take a few moments to discuss exactly why we feel the uModule is unlike any other commercial CPV product ever offered and why we think it is the future of CPV.

A single uModule under test at Arzon Solar headquarters in California

Flexibility – Historically, CPV companies have developed products aimed at the utility-scale segment of the solar market, and only the utility-scale segment.  uModule is designed to empower products in every market segment of solar, including industrial, commercial, off grid, remote, mobile, utility and as an alternative to rooftop.  It is offered as a stand alone product for third party developers / integrators or as part of Arzon Solar offered systems, such as the uM2 or the uM6.

Simplicity – The uModule design was guided by DFM and value engineering principles from the beginning.  It is an elegantly simple design through and through.  It is the reflection of the engineering and design effort from what is likely the most experienced group of CPV experts ever assembled.

Performance – At 30% aperture efficiency, uModule is the highest performance commercially available CPV module on the market.  Period.

Competitiveness – Thanks to the simplicity of uModule design and engineering of uModule assembly processes, the uModule will be competitive on an LCOE basis, or energy adjusted $/W basis, with conventional Si PV even at modest initial production volumes.  If you’d like to know how competitive, please tell us about your use case through the Product Inquiry page.

Service and Upgrade – No other solar module in the world offers the degree of “O&M” friendly features that come standard on the uModule.  The lenses and plates of the uModule are easily removable and serviceable if ever needed.  If part of a uModule is damaged due to unforseen events, there is no need to replace the entire module, just damaged components through simple steps with non-specialized tooling.  Easy-service design also means easy-upgrade potential.  As the solar cells and optics for CPV continue to improve, uModule systems can be “re-powered” with the latest product upgrades to fully amortized structure, tracker and BOS as dictated by a customer’s future economics.

Manufacturing Strategy – Arzon Solar already has all capital equipment needed to move the uModule into full production, which allows us to start uModule production in Q3, 2015.  Because of the uModule simplicity, the capital needed for manufacturing expansion is a tiny percentage (5-10%) of that needed for traditional Si PV or micro-cell CPV on a $/W basis.  This allows the business to grow rapidly without uncomfortable capital commitments.

So, by now you know our uModule platform is beautifully engineered for a variety of applications, but perhaps you’re still wondering if this is the product for you.  So lets take a short look at the raw Competitive Advantages of the uModule platform and Arzon Solar CPV.  The biggest competitive advantage of uModule systems is the amount of energy (kWh) generated in a given amount of land.  Because uModules are 2x as efficient at conventional Si PV modules, uModule systems provide the greatest amount of PV energy density commercially available.  But don’t take our word for it, the NREL Land Use Report of June 2013 crunches the numbers to show Arzon Solar CPV as the most kWh per acre for small (<20 MW) and large (>20 MW) US solar power plants.

uModule systems are also incredibly land sensitive, providing large amounts of solar power with minimal land scarring, minimum disturbance to local flora and fauna and no permanent shading.  This makes uModule perfect for land-sensitive applications as well as remote applications where ground interfacing is a challenge.  uModule systems also require no water for nominal operation.

Be sure to stay tuned to the website and the blog for more updates on uModule-enabled products and Arzon Solar news.  Lastly, our team always looks forward to hearing your thoughts and interest concerning the new uModule platform, so please don’t be shy!