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Conergy connects world's third largest thin-film solar park to the grid

• Stadtwerke Trier is financing the 30M-euro project fully from its own resources
• The 8.4 megawatt solar park is currently the largest thin-film solar park in Rhineland-Palatinate
• With an annual output of nine million kilowatt hours of electricity, the plant supplies around 2,400 homes and will conserve 100,000 tons of CO2 over 20 years

Hamburg / Trier – Conergy Germany (Conergy Deutschland GmbH, one of the leading suppliers of products and solutions in the field of solar electricity generation, completed work in Trier (Rhineland-Palatinate) on what is currently the third largest thin-film solar park in the world. On behalf of Stadtwerke Trier (SWT), the solar concern built the fully equipped photovoltaic park, with a total peak output of 8.4 MW, after only six months of construction. Upon completion of the last segment, the solar power plant was able to be completely installed into the electrical grid. Capital expenditure for the megawatt project amounts to around 30M euros.

"We're very happy about the project's quick realization and we're proud that our plant is right away producing environmentally friendly electricity for homes in Trier" said Rudolf Schöller, the project manager at SWT who was responsible for the solar park. "Considering the great demand, we hadn't expected to obtain all the modules by year's end" stresses Schöller. The solar park was completed by Conergy in record time and has already been locked into the grid at the lucrative feed-in tariff of 35.49 cents per kilowatt hour - an attractive rate that the park operators will enjoy for over 20 years.

Conergy experts installed over 112,500 thin-film modules, supplied by the firm First Solar, across an area of 25,000 square meters. These were arranged atop 40,000 mounting systems, of the Conergy Solar Linea model, and linked to 28 inverter modules of the Conergy IPG 300K series. Effective immediately, the plant will produce annually over nine million kilowatt hours of clean electricity - enough to supply over 2,400 four-person homes all year around. And in the process, operation of the solar park will conserve 100,000 tons of CO2 over 20 years.

"The project shows that power supply companies have now discovered photovoltaics for themselves" says Conergy Deutschland Managing Director Jochen Kirmaier. He goes on to explain: "In light of the current capital market crisis, solar energy has now become a safe and sought-after investment. In addition to the attractive feed-in tariffs, these are, above all, qualitatively premium solar power systems". Conergy has designed and built large-scale photovoltaic plants for over ten years and for the fifth straight year has received the TÜV (German Technical Inspection Authority) Rhineland seal of approval for its products and services. As a downstream enterprise, Conergy stands to benefit above all from its vendor independence: The company is fixed to no particular module technology and can provide the appropriate photovoltaic solution to meet every demand within the field of thin-film and crystalline technology.

About Conergy
Since its founding in 1998, Hamburg-based Conergy AG has sold more than a gigawatt in renewable energy, making it one of the biggest suppliers of solar energy and other renewable energies, and a world leader in solar system integration. Of the one gigawatt in renewable energies, Conergy has installed more than 400 megawatts in its major projects, Of the total one gigawatt, 200 megawatts falls to its wind energy park projects and 800 to its globally marketed solar modules. Calculative one in ten modules worldwide was produced, sold or installed by Conergy. Listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since 2005, the group pursues a global growth strategy, The company now produces, installs and designs solar power systems and wind turbines in around 15 countries. The Conergy Group is represented with its own branches on four continents.

Conergy Australia is a key player in the Australian renewable energy market, manufacturing and supplying high efficiency solar hot water, solar power and small wind power solutions. With an Australia-wide distribution network, state sales offices and warehousing in 4 key locations around the continent as well as in-house dedicated renewable energy engineers and sales teams, the company has become an important part of the Australian industry since it began operations here in 2005.

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