ARAGONA, Sicily & SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The Moncada Energy Group s.r.l. has awarded Applied Materials, Inc. a contract to establish what will be Moncada’s first photovoltaic (PV) module production facility and Applied’s first SunFab(TM) line in Italy. The Applied SunFab Thin Film Line will produce large 5.7m2 single junction PV modules at a facility to be located in Campofranco, Sicily, and is expected to have an annual rated capacity of 40MW.
Applied’s SunFab production line will add to Moncada’s existing power production capacity of more than 105MW in wind energy, and will expand Italy’s growing infrastructure of renewable energy installations. Moncada plans to use the SunFab-produced modules to build solar farms on some of the same land where its wind turbines are located, effectively double-harvesting its clean energy resources.
Sized at 2.2 x 2.6 meters, the SunFab modules are four times larger than today’s typical solar panels, making them ideal for cost-saving power plant applications. Applied’s SunFab technology has recently been demonstrated to lower installation costs by over 17% compared to smaller area thin film panels.
::Design World::
