A partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laborartory (NREL) and Amonix has resulted in the production of a new concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) device, the Amonix 7700, that’s as big as an IMAX screen, looks like a PV array on many, many steroids, and can produce electricity at costs on par with natural gas. The technology is now being deployed in its first commercial setting.

Mortenson Construction was recently selected to construct the Amonix Alamosa Solar Generating Project, which will soon break ground.

The 30-megawatt project will be the world's largest CPV installation, said Amonix spokesperson Kelly Rice. Thanks to CPV, the solar farm won’t need any water to produce electricity.

The Amonix 7700 is designed to halve the amount of land needed for solar projects over other photovoltaics.

“Amonix CPV systems produce more energy per acre than any other solar technology in sunny and dry climates. We are best suited in areas with high energy irradiance, such as the Southwest states of the U.S.,” Rice said.

The company’s approach to concentrated solar power uses Fresnel lenses to concentrate the sun up to 500 times and directs the light onto high-efficiency multi-junction gallium indium PV cells developed in collaboration with NREL. The device measures 77 feet by 49 feet and produces 60 kilowatts. It’s mounted on a dual-axis tracker to follow the sun throughout the day.

Each Amonix 7700 has 7,560 of those high-efficiency PV cells, each measuring a square centimeter. NREL said they have achieved 41 percent efficiency in laboratory conditions. In the field, they are achieving 31 percent efficiency at the module level and 27 percent at the system level, NREL reported.

The lab said it’s the highest efficiency achieved for an operating CPV device.

The combination of high-tech, high-cost PVs and manufacturing processes—which integrate the Fresnel lenses, the cell and the mounting structure into a unit—reduces manufacturing costs. The modules were also designed to be hauled on two flatbed trucks and assembled in field in a matter of hours, speeding deployment.

NREL reported that the 7700 is expected to produce electricity at a cost of 6 cents to 15 cents per kilowatt-hour, which puts it at or near parity with natural gas in sunny states like Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Utah.

The Department of Energy is also testing the device at the Solar Technology Acceleration Center in Aurora, Colo.

The company also recently began producing its CPV Solar Power Generator and the Amonix 7700 at its North Las Vegas, Nev., facility.

Amonix broke ground on the production plant in late October.

“With our new manufacturing facility opening at the end [the first quarter of 2011], we will have the capacity to produce 100 MW annually,” Rice said.