September 14, 2009

South Plainfield, NJ, USA: Petra Solar Starts Shipments for PSE&G

Metallic blue solar photovoltaic modules embedded with sophisticated power management and communications systems began rolling out of Petra Solar`s headquarters and manufacturing plant in South Plainfield, NJ this month.

Petra Solar employees prepare SunWave solar system sfor shipment

PSE&G and Petra Solar recently entered into a contract, valued at $200 million, which requires Petra Solar to deliver approximately 200,000 SunWave intelligent PV solar units for installation by PSE&G plans for installation on poles in its service territory, which includes the state`s six largest cities and some 300 rural and suburban communities.

"Petra Solar`s solar photovoltaic solutions enable utilities to maximize the value of their existing resources in innovative ways," said Petra Solar President and CEO Shihab Kuran. "With Petra Solar`s SunWave technology, they use existing utility poles to host solar units, creating a distributed system of power generation throughout their service area."

He noted that the SunWave systems not only turn the poles into solar generators but can also communicate with the electric grid and can offer smart grid capabilities. The systems can improve grid reliability through real-time communications between solar generators in the field and the utility control center. In addition, the Petra systems can enhance electric distribution grid reliability through a host of capabilities such as voltage and frequency monitoring and reactive power compensation.

Petra Solar will ship 150 solar units this week, following an initial delivery of 50 units last week. It continues to gear up to fulfill its contract, which calls for shipments to increase to 1,500 units per month by the end of the year.

In addition to securing the PSE&G contract last month, Petra Solar became the first business awarded funding under New Jersey`s Clean Energy Manufacturing Fund in July, and the U.S. Department of Energy awarded it the prestigious multi-million SEGIS contract to develop power management and control technologies that will enable a higher penetration of distributed solar in the electric grid.

"We are very gratified that our business interests line up directly with the public`s interest in producing clean energy and green jobs," said Kuran, noting that the company will triple its workforce in the next year.

Further details about: Petra Solar