Solar Power System for SPL offices in Malta


     Solar Power Limited designs, installs, commissions and operates large-scale solar electric power systems for integration into national and regional power generation networks. 

     Solar Power Limited was established in 1995 as a joint venture between the US MinneSolar Corporation and the Joinwell Group of Malta, the former a systems engineering firm focused on development of solar energy solutions for developing countries and the latter an industrial firm including period furniture manufacture and dedicated printing.

     Capacity of the factory was 12MW on three shifts and the firm featured two products: (a) monocrystalline photovoltaic modules in 30W, 58W, 85W and 110W configurations which were shipped worldwide and (b) remote power systems incorporating those modules.

     For the latter product, SPL designed, delivered, installed and commissioned solar power systems primarily in the Mediterranean Basin, North Africa and the Middle East. Typical projects included remote water pumping in Libya, solar village systems in Morocco and Indonesia, remote power units in the French Alps and telecommunications power for offshore oil rigs in Turkey.

      Future manufacturing will employ a concentrator technology developed by PV Scientific LLC which replaces scarce and expensive crystalline silicon cells with linear optics resulting in 3 times more modules per cell.

Key Principals/Highlights of Professional Experience

James Horgen, Project Director

For the New East Development Group/Washington, D.C.

• Evaluated the utility of solar photovoltaic power for remote and village power in the Near East and Southeast Asia, for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration/Lewis Research Center
• Designed and implemented a solar village power system in the Punjab Area of Pakistan, for the Energy Resources Cell/Government of Pakistan
• Performed a feasibility study for the manufacture of solar photovoltaic products in Pakistan, for the Fauji Foundation/Rawalpindi
• Designed and implemented a solar village power system for the Confederation of Yemen Development Associations in Sana’a Yemen

For Solar Power Limited/Qormi, Malta

• Inaugurated a monocrystalline silicon module manufacturing facility with a 12MW/year capacity and, as Managing Partner, supervised the design, installation and commissioning of solar photovoltaic power systems in southern France, Italy, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya and Turkey
• Collaborated with GE Wind Systems (formerly Enron Wind) in the design of a hybrid solar/wind utility-scale power system for the electric power utility in Malta – Enemalta - and the Malta Resource Authority
• Designed large-scale solar power generation systems in the Amargosa Valley and Paiute Pyramid Lake Reservation/Nevada
• Other:  Testified as an Expert Witness on technology transfer to the Near East, for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology

Norman Abela, Engineering Director

For SGS-Thomson Semiconductors/Malta

• Acted as Production Superintendent initiating testing processes for new products

• Acted as Head of Engineering/Maintenance and Production for the design and manufacture of LV Switchgear

• Head of Process Engineering, monitoring of production processes and setting up ‘Lean Lines’; established production facility in China, training engineering managers and technicians and supervising machine installation and plant layout

• As Production Manager of Factory Start-Up, organized and planned production for the manufacture of electronic assembles SMD/PTH

• as Power Station Engineer, managing the manufacture and installation of Concentrator PV systems and Power Plants

• Responsible for production processes in the manufacture of crystalline silicon PV modules as well as the design and sizing of solar photovoltaic systems and solar/wind hybrid systems; training of client technicians in basic PV technologies
• Solar Power Limited assumes the role of Prime Integrator in a Project, bringing together as partners other manufacturers, systems engineering firms, materials suppliers, legal and financial experts whose skills and talents are complimentary, within the framework of a consortium that will successfully address the challenge of inaugurating, operating and integrating very large-scale solar power  systems into the power generation mix.