Solar Energy and RES Americas

RES Americas has been developing and constructing wind farms in the United States (US) for more than a decade. It is a leader in bringing renewable energy solutions and is now developing a portfolio of assets using non-wind renewable power technologies.

The company is pursuing solar and energy storage projects. These "emerging renewables" technologies are not currently as widely installed as wind, but RES Americas believes they have the potential to be deployed on a significant scale.

RES Americas is using its core development, engineering, and construction expertise to develop these new projects, which give the company the opportunity to diversify, create additional income streams, and reach new markets.

Its projects are designed and constructed to reflect our regard for environmental sustainability, while providing long-term economic benefits to local communities. RES Americas works hard to create and maintain excellent working relationships with landowners, local officials and communities at large.

RES Americas' first solar construction project, Webberville Solar, is one of the largest in the United States at 30 megawatts (MW). Located just outside of Austin, Texas, the project consists of 270W photovoltaic modules which will provide enough clean energy to power 5,000 homes and will be operational in 2012.

RES Americas is developing both Photovoltaic (PV) and Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) projects. The technology is dictated by solar resource, land availability and other site-specific factors.

In the US, suitable CSP sites are found in the Desert Southwest. PV may be more appropriate in areas where the solar resource is not as great or where smaller projects are preferred.

PV projects can be built and brought on line in a significantly shorter time than CSP projects, giving PV an advantage in this regard.

Rapid technological advances and increased deployment are expected to bring costs down for many solar technologies, even as demand for renewable power grows.

PV Technologies:

Photovoltaics (PV), also often called solar panels, convert sunlight directly into electricity. These PV panels are made of semiconducting material which is often similar to what is used in computer chips.

The material absorbs the sunlight, and according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), "the solar energy knocks electrons loose from their atoms allowing the electrons to flow through the material to produce electricity." This process is called the "photovoltaic effect."

CSP Technologies:

Concentrated Solar Power systems are used in large-scale (50 MW +) projects in areas with high direct sunlight. CSP uses the sun as a heat source to generate steam, which rotates a large turbine, which in turn activates a generator that produces electricity.

CSP systems consist of three main types: parabolic troughs, dish engines, and central receiver towers.