SunPower sets up 2MW solar plant in Korea

SunPower Corp. announced it will work with Korean energy company EnE System to build a 2MW solar electric power plant in Jeonju, a city in the Jeolla province of Korea. The plant, owned by Jeonju Solar Energy, is the first of its kind in Korea to be located on a landfill property.

Jeonju Solar Energy utilized a low-cost financing program sponsored by the Korea Energy Management Corp. (KEMCO) to fund a portion of the project cost. Construction on the solar power plant in Jeonju is expected to be complete in January 2008.

The company is installing its single-axis solar tracking system at the 53,000m? site. The SunPower Tracker tilts toward the sun as it moves across the sky, delivering up to 25 percent more energy than traditional fixed-tilt systems while reducing land-use requirements.

"Locating the power plant on landfill demonstrates the environmental leadership taken by Jeonju Solar Energy and EnE System on this project," said Stanley S.K. Bae, SunPower's general manager in Korea. "The Jeonju solar power plant will help serve Korea's energy needs with a major source of clean, renewable solar power, generated on a site that may otherwise remain unused."

"We selected SunPower based on the company's experience with utility-scale power plant projects as well as the efficiency and proven reliability of SunPower's technology," said Sang Kug Moon, director of EnE System.

SunPower has been active in developing the solar market in Korea. Additional completed solar power plants include the 2.2MW Mungyeong SP Solar Mountain and a 1MW plant in Gwangju. The company also has a multiyear polysilicon supply agreement with Korea's DC Chemical Co. Ltd and is investing in a joint venture with Woongjin Coway to manufacture monocrystalline silicon ingots, with polysilicon supplied primarily from DC Chemical.