Q.CELLS Completes Europe's Largest Solar Project

Q.CELLS Completes Europe's Largest Solar Project

Q.CELLS has completed the solar project Brandenburg-Briest to full extend. It is the largest solar installation in Europe. With the last outstanding financial instalment being placed by the financing bank, the commercial part of the mega project has now been finished. Q.CELLS had completed the entire construction of the mega solar park in an astounding eight weeks at the end of 2011.

'We are very pleased by this lighthouse project to have demonstrated our experience and outstanding competence in the systems business", said Clemens Jargon, head of marketing, sales and product management at Q.CELLS. 'Our customers and their banks continue to rely on the high quality of our products also in the current situation."

In Brandenburg-Briest, what was once a former military airbase covering some 200 hectares is now 'home" to approximately 383,000 of Q.CELLS' crystalline solar modules. With a total output of 91 MWp, Brandenburg-Briest produces enough electricity for over 22,500 households' annual requirements, making it the largest solar power plant in Europe. The plant will also reduce annual CO2 emissions by approximately 50,000 tons.

The Briest solar part is subdivided into three different sections. Brandenburg-Briest West and Brandenburg-Briest East have a total output of 60 MWp: located on land that belongs to the municipal authorities of the town of Brandenburg, they were transferred to the ownership of Hamburg-based asset management company LUXCARA in November 2011. The third section at the site produces 31 MWp and is located in the communal district Briest-Havelsee. It was bought by Berlin-based MCG Management Capital Group for its own stock. Q.CELLS had developed the project together with the company 'Module 24".

'Q.CELLS sets benchmarks when it comes to constructing large-scale plants, for example by deploying the megawatt-block standard that we had developed", says Frank Danielzik, Director Systems and Operations Germany. 'With those standard blocks we ensure higher power output for the plant operator, we speed up the pace of construction work and at the same time minimise operating costs." This principle was also applied for the design of the Bandenburg-Briest solar park.

In the systems solution field, Q.CELLS provides its customers with an extensive range of services, from site and project development to support when securing financing, from professional and fast installation to the management, maintenance and upkeep of power plants when in operation. The company has been demonstrating the extent of its expertise on the international markets, for example in North America. Q.CELLS has realised large-scale solar projects totalling to a cumulated power output of 548 MWp, of which around 20% were installed in North America.

The Q.CELLS Group is one of the world's leading photovoltaics companies and offers a wide range of photovoltaic solutions, from solar cells and modules to solar power plants. Q.CELLS's products are developed and manufactured at its headquarters in Bitterfeld-Wolfen (Germany) and marketed via its global sales network. It also has a second production plant in Malaysia. More than 200 scientists and engineers at Q.CELLS are working to swiftly advance solar technology and achieve Q.CELLS' twin aims: driving down the costs of photovoltaics quickly and permanently, and making solar power competitive. The close links between R&D and production enable Q.CELLS to rapidly translate cutting-edge innovation into mass production - and underpin its ambition to be at the forefront of photovoltaic technology. Q-Cells SE is quoted in the Prime Standard on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (QCE; ISIN DE0005558662).
www.q-cells.de