Albiasa offers solar choices (San Francisco)

Albiasa wants to know how you like your solar.

The Spanish solar company, with a U.S. headquarters in San Francisco, develops solar projects that use its patented concentrating solar technology as well as solar projects that use traditional photovoltaic solar panels. It also licenses technology to other project developers.

The variety Albiasa Corp. can offer sets it apart from an increasingly crowded field of solar developers and technology manufacturers and lets it develop projects that range in size from 10 to 250 megawatts or more, said Albiasa Chief Project Engineer Albert Fong.

Albiasa is developing a 200 megawatt project in Kingman, Ariz. — providing enough power for about 44,000 homes — and has licensed its technology for use at a 10 megawatt project in Kauai.

With solar thermal technology, mirrors reflect the sunlight onto pipes to heat liquid for steam. The steam turns turbines to produce power. Albiasa also is developing about 200 megawatts of solar photovoltaics that use panels made by manufacturers like SunPower and Suntech. In all, the projects require between $1.5 billion and $1.8 billion in investment.

Read the full story in the San Francisco Business Times.