Battery Park City High Rise Goes SunPowered
Millennium Towers Features SunPower's A-300 Solar Cells in Building Integrated Photovoltaic System
SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 19 / -- SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ:SPWR), a Silicon Valley-based manufacturer of the world's highest efficiency, commercially available solar cells and solar panels, today announced installation of its industry-leading A-300 solar cells in a unique Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) facade of the Millennium Towers high rise in Battery Park City, located in lower Manhattan.
The new Millennium Towers solar power system, built into the building's "skin," boasts 27.3 kWp or (DC) of peak power. The A-300 solar cells were integrated into curtain wall solar panels, replacing side building materials. This system, designed and supplied by altPOWER, uses 126 BIPV solar panels connected to an industrial sized PV inverter, and was partially funded by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).
"New York City has become a hotbed for creative use of solar power in urban buildings. The major challenges facing this project were aesthetics and space, always key concerns in dense urban areas such as Battery Park City," said Anthony Pereira, president of altPOWER. "SunPower's A-300 solar cells were the perfect fit for this project, offering the most efficient modules, the ability to meet our specific space requirements and seamless integration into the curtain wall of the building."
SunPower's A-300, high-efficiency solar cells offer an all-back contact construction that ensures no gridlines or tabs are visible on the front of the cells. With it's all-black appearance, SunPower's A-300 solar cells increase the aesthetic value without any reflectance -- all while maximizing the power generated per square foot of building area.
"We are pleased to add another stunning, high-profile SunPower system on a building in Manhattan," said Tom Werner, CEO of SunPower Corporation. "With the growing need for siting power systems within City limits, our high- efficiency solar technology provides an opportunity to integrate architecturally attractive, pollution-free solar power into virtually any building."
This is the second building to be powered by SunPower's A-300 solar cells in New York City. The Tribeca Green, also in Battery Park City, opened its doors in 2005. In addition, SunPower's solar cells have been used with other BIPV curtain wall projects such as the Biohaus headquarters facade in Paderborn, Germany.
About altPower
altPOWER was founded to provide expertise in the field of renewable energy systems with a focus on solar energy. altPOWER provides solar electric/photovoltaic systems design and illustrations, consulting services, solar resource studies, feasibility/cost studies and other renewable energy- related services, and specializes in commercial installations utilizing building integrated photovoltaic products.
About SunPower
SunPower Corporation designs and manufactures high-efficiency silicon solar cells and solar panels based on an all-back contact cell design. SunPower's solar cells and panels generate up to 50 percent more power per unit area than conventional solar technologies and have a uniquely attractive, all-black appearance. For more information on SunPower or solar technology, please visit the SunPower website at www.sunpowercorp.com/. SunPower is a majority-owned subsidiary of Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NYSE:CY).
Source: SunPower Corporation
CONTACT: Julie Blunden, Vice President External Affairs,
+1-408-470-4277, or Helen Kendrick, Communications Manager, +1-408-470-4285,
or hkendrick@sunpowercorp.com, both of SunPower Corporation
Web site: http://www.sunpowercorp.com/
