Sopogy MicroCSP solar technologies to power Hawaii’s largest Concentrating Solar Power plant

The project, named “Kalaeloa Solar One”, is a partnership between the State of Hawaii’s Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) and KSP Development, which represents a major milestone in Hawaii’s goal of sourcing 70% of its energy consumption from renewable sources by 2030.

“We are pleased to have been selected as the solar technology supplier for a project of this magnitude,” said Van Matsushige, Sopogy’s Vice President of Sales. “We look forward to working with the project team to support Hawaii’s Clean Energy Initiative goals.”

Concentrating solar power (CSP) is a unique approach to solar power generation. The CSP technology uses mirrored reflectors and optics to intensify solar energy, which raises the system’s energy efficiency. The solar panels track the sun throughout the day, increasing the amount of kilowatt hours the system produces annually.

“Sopogy developed a fast and simple template solution which meets our goals,” said Edward Lui, member of the board of directors at KSP. “The MicroCSP package includes the concentrating solar collectors and thermal storage which is not only delivered quickly, but also assembled on-site at a very cost-effective price.”

Unlike solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies, CSP has an inherent capacity to store heat energy for periods of time for later conversion to electricity. When combined with thermal storage capacity, CSP can produce electricity even during cloudy or night conditions – providing reliable electricity that can be dispatched to the grid when needed.

Sopogy developed the concept of the MicroCSP™ solar system which brings the economics of large Concentrating Solar Power systems to the industrial, commercial and utility sectors in a smaller, robust and more cost effective package. Sopogy’s technologies are deployed in 1-50MW power solutions, up to 1,000 tons of solar thermal air conditioning and limitless amounts of industrial process heat.

sopogy.com/