Soitec of Bernin, France says that CSOLAR IV West LLC recently notified San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) of its decision not to use the concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) module technology of Soitec Solar (formerly Concentrix) for its power purchase agreement (PPA) to produce 150MW of energy for its CSOLAR IV West solar plant. Instead CSOLAR, a subsidiary of Tenaska Solar Ventures LLC, has decided to use traditional PV technology to carry out the project.
Soitec Solar is not a party to the PPA between SDG&E and Tenaska. Tenaska's decision was made public at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) meeting on 10 April.
Soitec Solar says that, although it is disappointed with Tenaska's decision, it neither materially jeopardize the prospects for its North American manufacturing facility in California (from which it supplies demand for its CPV technology worldwide) nor impacts Soitec's PPAs with SDG&E that have previously been approved by the CPUC and are currently under development.