Abengoa Solar (formerly Solúcar Energía
) is a subsidiary of
Abengoa
Abengoa, S.A. was a Spanish multinational company in the green infrastructure, energy and water sectors. The company was founded in 1941 by Javier Benjumea Puigcerver and José Manuel Abaurre Fernández-Pasalagua, and was based in Seville, Sp ...
. Its primary activities include designing, promotion, financing attainment, construction and operation of
solar power
Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovolta ...
stations that use
photovoltaics
Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commercially ...
,
concentrated photovoltaics
Concentrator photovoltaics (CPV) (also known as concentration photovoltaics) is a photovoltaic technology that generates electricity from sunlight. Unlike conventional photovoltaic systems, it uses lenses or curved mirrors to focus sunlight ont ...
, or
concentrated solar thermal
Concentrated solar power (CSP, also known as concentrating solar power, concentrated solar thermal) systems generate solar power by using mirrors or lenses to concentrate a large area of sunlight into a receiver. Electricity is generated when ...
technologies.
Abengoa Solar and innovation
R&D investment:
Over 42.4 million euros were invested in R&D in 2011 and a total over 150 million euros since 2007.
Patent rights:
Given the importance of R&D, legal protection of industrial and
intellectual property
Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...
advancements is critical. The company, therefore, holds priority rights to various key inventions. 115 CSP and PV technology patent applications were registered as of May 2012.
Solar power tower
Abengoa Solar owns Europe's first commercially operating concentrating solar power plant, the
PS10 Solar Power Plant
The PS10 Solar Power Plant ( es, Planta Solar 10), is the world's first commercial concentrating solar power tower operating near Seville, in Andalusia, Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo ...
, that use the
solar power tower
A solar power tower, also known as 'central tower' power plant or ' heliostat' power plant, is a type of solar furnace using a tower to receive focused sunlight. It uses an array of flat, movable mirrors (called heliostats) to focus the sun's r ...
technology, a form of
concentrated solar thermal
Concentrated solar power (CSP, also known as concentrating solar power, concentrated solar thermal) systems generate solar power by using mirrors or lenses to concentrate a large area of sunlight into a receiver. Electricity is generated when ...
technology. The Spanish plant was featured in an episode of World's Strangest on the SciFi network and James May's Big Ideas on the BBC.
Projects using their technology
*
Solana Generating Station, Arizona
See also
*
Solar power in Spain
*
Renewable energy in the European Union
*
Energy policy of the European Union
References
External links
*
Technology companies of Spain
Solar energy companies
Abengoa
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