NTR Secures Boeing Solar Power Deal

InsideIreland.ie : March 31 2010

NTR has announced that its Stirling Energy Systems (SES) subsidiary and Boeing have formed a strategic partnership to complete the commercialization and deployment of Boeing’s XR700 high-concentration photovoltaic (HCPV) solar power technology.

Through this licensing agreement SES has acquired the exclusive worldwide rights to develop, manufacture and deploy the HCPV technology.

SES CEO Steve Cowman said: “This venture with Boeing represents an ideal opportunity for SES to extend its reach into the solar market for future technology deployments with a product that shares many of the SunCatcher’s key differentiating features – scalability, low water use and high-efficiency.”

Development of this technology began in 2007 in collaboration with the US Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Program, and the technology development phase of this new system is expected to continue for the next two years before achieving commercial-scale deployment in 2012.

The XR700 technology uses a non-imaging optical system to concentrate sunlight by a factor of 700 onto high-efficiency, triple-junction solar cells.

“We are pleased to obtain the rights to deploy a complementary technology to the SunCatcher and therefore suit our potential customers that are interested in smaller-scale projects,” said Tessera Solar North America CEO Bob Lukefahr.