They both still hold a top-level position among the CPV producers, and seem to be the only two CPV companies that are on the right path for reaching grid parity in the very near future.
News:
SolFocus to Deploy CPV Systems in Greece
and
Concentrix Solar opens its industrial automated production line in Freiburg Germany with its fully automated production, Concentrix Solar holds a top-level position among the producers of concentrator PV modules
Efficiencies:
Since October 2008, Concentrix Solar has produced a new generation of modules which are more cost efficient and once again have higher efficiencies than their predecessors. External measurements performed at Fraunhofer ISE confirm a new average module efficiency of 27.2 percent.
In comparison, the SolFocus newly-released 1100S system achieves panel efficiencies of 25 percent,
while typical silicon modules reach efficiencies between 13 and 14 percent.
At present Concentrix Solar produces modules with a staff of 60 people. Next year this number is expected to increase to 100. The company has an especially close working relationship with the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE for carrying out further developments on the FLATCON® technology.
SolFocus has reached agreement with Concept, a division of the Samaras Group, to jointly develop the first commercial installation of Concentrator Photovoltaic solar technology in Greece. The deployment will have the capacity to produce 1.6 megawatts (MW) of power using the SolFocus 1100S system.
It seems that the next race between Concentrix and SolFocus will be at the Timna site in southern Israel, where 5 to 10 PV or CPV deployment initiatives (based on licensing and feed-in tariff) will be announced.
