Stirling Energy System Announces A New Division to Manufacture Solar Thermal Suncatchers

Stirling Energy Systems recently announced the launch of a new solar development company named Tessera Solar. Tessera Solar is developing solar power world wide using their patented technology called SunCatchers. Manufacturing of SunCatchers at production volumes will commence in 2010, utilizing Tier 1 automotive suppliers for key components. With over 90% North American content, SES Inc. expects to employ hundreds of U.S. autoworkers in the production of the SunCatcher.

Tessera Solar North America will oversee completion of the two projects commenced by SES Inc. with California utilities San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison, with two of the largest solar farms in the world scheduled to begin construction in California as early as 2010. Tessera Solar North America is building a pipeline of additional domestic projects, with the goal of developing 1,000 MW of new solar plants by the end of 2011.

Tessera Solar will assume the project development activities formerly included in SES and will have exclusive responsibility for the global deployment of the SunCatcher solar dish Stirling system manufactured by sister company, SES Inc.

Tessera Solar has a North American division, based in Houston Texas, and an International division based in London, United Kingdom. SES Inc., headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, will retain the Stirling Energy Systems name and will continue its focus on the engineering, manufacturing and volume ramp of the SunCatcher platform.

Cool Energy, Inc., developers of clean energy heat and electrical power generating systems has announced the completion and operation of its third Stirling Engine platform. The engine, called the SolarHeart® Engine converts low temperature heat into electrical power.

The SunCatcher represents the next generation of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) technology, potentially the most efficient and cost-effective commercial solar solution ever developed. “CSP is emerging as one of the most promising sources of renewable energy for the 21st century,” said Robert (Bob) Lukefahr, CEO of Tessera Solar North America. “The SunCatcher^TM has numerous environmental advantages, including the lowest water use of any thermal electric generating technology, minimal grading and trenching requirements, no excavation for foundations, and the highest sun-to-grid efficiency of any solar generating technology, the cumulative result of which minimizes both cost and land use.”

The SunCatchersystem consists of an array of curved glass mirror facets that act as a solar concentrator in a dish structure. These mirrors collect and concentrate solar energy into a closed-loop, high-efficiency, four-cylinder reciprocating Solar Stirling Engine. SES Inc. CEO Steve Cowman commented, “The SunCatcher^TM Power System is a breakthrough technology, but at its heart, it is an engine, mirrors, steel, and electric motors. Who better to build these at scale than the U.S. automotive industry?”

 Tessera Solar International is developing projects outside North America in southern Europe, Asia, MENA and Latin America, with initial deployments slated for 2010. CEO of Tessera Solar International Trevor Nash commented, “The Suncatcher system’s high efficiency and low cost is ideally suited to opportunities in southern Europe. The SunCatcher’s near-zero water use, scalable modularity and terrain flexibility provides compelling advantage in the broader Mediterranean rim and in many desert and arid areas around the world.”

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