Suntech to supply 5 MW project in San Francisco October, 2009: Recurrent Energy in August selected Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. to supply over 25,000 crystalline solar modules for a 5 MW project under contract with the City and County of San Francisco. The project is scheduled to break ground in the fourth quarter and be commissioned in early 2010. The contract and lease for the system were approved in an ordinance passed by San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors in May and signed into law by Major Gavin Newsom. Installed on a rooftop and on land adjacent to the city’s largest water reservoir – the Sunset Reservoir – the project will be one of the biggest PV installations in California when completed. Recurrent, a San Francisco-based project developer, won a bid to supply the city with the plant’s output under a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) starting at 23.5¢ per kWh and increasing by 3 percent each year. When complete, the project will more than triple San Francisco’s current PV capacity of just over 2 MW, according to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC). The system will cost up to $45 million in construction costs, according to the SFPUC. The city has the option to purchase the system after 15 years of operation – but must first rely on the PPA with a private company in order to access federal tax incentives for the project. Garrett Hering © PHOTON International, October 2009 Duplicate only with allowance of PHOTON Europe GmbH, Aachen, Germany  back