El Paso Electric Invests in First Utility Owned CPV Project in Texas, Utilizing SolFocus Technology

Late last year, SolFocus, a Concentrator Photovoltaic (CPV) technology provider, partnered with El Paso-based Solar Smart Living to complete a 53 kW CPV installation that will be owned by El Paso Electric.  The installation provides energy directly to Texas’s electrical grid, and was developed by Solar Smart Living using six SolFocus SF-1100S tracking CPV systems. The installation is located at El Paso Electric’s Wrangler substation facility.

In solar-rich places like El Paso, SolFocus CPV technology yields significantly more energy than any other solar technology. Many municipalities throughout the sunny Southwest U.S. are seeing the benefit of high efficiency technology in providing them low cost solar energy. It is also ideal for the very sunny locations that El Paso Electric serves.

SolFocus CPV technology employs a system of patented reflective optics to concentrate sunlight 650 times onto small, highly efficient solar cells. The SolFocus SF- SF-1100S system deployed in El Paso features dual-axis tracking for consistent energy delivery. It also offers environmental benefits including no water usage for energy production, a small land footprint with dual use potential, and no permanent shadowing or wildlife corridor disruption. Additionally, SolFocus CPV provides the shortest energy payback and lowest greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity of any solar technology.

Solar Smart Living has been engineering, procuring, and constructing turnkey solar projects in the southwest since 2009.  In addition to the Wrangler CPV installation, some of their other projects in the region include solar installations at the Army Reserve Center at Ft. Bliss, Texas, the Advanced Technology Center at the El Paso Community College, and the Green Offices Building in Las Cruces, NM.  Solar Smart Living is working with utilities, government officials, and community leaders to help establish El Paso as a leader in solar power generation.