BP Solar
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BP has been involved in solar power since 1973 and its subsidiary, BP Solar, is now one of the world's largest solar power companies with production facilities in the United States, Spain, India and Australia, employing a workforce of over 2,000 people worldwide. [1] BP solar is a major worldwide manufacturer and installer of photovoltaic solar cells. [2]
Other major solar photovoltaic companies include Mitsubishi Electric, Shell Solar,[3], Kyocera, and Sanyo. [4]
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[edit] The photovoltaic industry
The international photovoltaic industry provides solar cells which convert light into electricity. With concerns over global warming increasing and technological advances driving prices down, the market is growing by about 25 per cent each year. The composition of demand also is changing. In the 1980s and early 1990s, most photovoltaic modules provided remote area power supply or powered consumer products such as watches, calculators and toys, but from around 1995, industry efforts have focused increasingly on developing building integrated photovoltaics and power plants for grid connected applications.[5]
[edit] Large PV power plants
There are several large PV power plants which use BP solar modules. These include:
- Burstadt, Germany -- 5MW from 30,000 modules
- Springerville, AZ, USA -- 4.59MW from 34,980 modules
- Geiseltalsee, Germany -- 4MW from 25,000 modules
[edit] Projects in developing countries
BP Solar has several projects in developing countries, including supplying power to 36,000 homes in rural Indonesia, installing 1000 solar devices to provide power to 400 remote villages in the Philippines, and setting up a rural electrification scheme in Malaysia to provide power to 30,000 remote homes in Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia. [6]
[edit] New battery technology
BP Solar is also involved in the commercialization of a long life deep cycle lead acid battery, jointly developed by the CSIRO and Battery Energy, which is ideally suited to the storage of electricity for renewable remote area power systems (RAPS). The GreenGel battery will be utilised with CSIRO's new battery charging procedures, which further reduce capacity loss and premature failure sometimes encountered with existing battery technology. A significant component of the project will be Battery Energy's establishment of a state-of-the-art manufacturing process which will enable the production of these advanced batteries at an internationally competitive price, facilitating a major export market.
[edit] New solar cell manufacturing plants
The company has begun constructing two new solar photovoltaic (PV) solar cell manufacturing plants, one at its European headquarters in Tres Cantos, Madrid, and the second at its joint venture facility, Tata BP Solar, in Bangalore, India. [7]
For phase one of the Madrid expansion, BP Solar is aiming to expand its annual cell capacity from 55 megawatts (MW) to around 300 MW. Construction of this facility is underway, with the first manufacturing line expected to be fully operational this year. The Bangalore expansion could add another 300 MW to the company's total capacity. [8]
The new cell lines use innovative screen-printing technology. By fully automating wafer handling, the manufacturing lines will be able to handle the very thinnest of wafers available and ensure the highest quality. [9] This is of particular importance since there has been a silicon shortage in recent years.
[edit] See also
- Green technology
- Photovoltaic array
- Photovoltaics
- Renewable energy
- Solar panel
- Solar power
- Solar shingle
- Solar tracker
- Timeline of solar energy
