Executive VP Marc Cortez on Commercial Solar

As Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Soliant Energy, Marc Cortez is responsible for the company's sales, product management, public relations, and marketing communications. He stopped to talk with CalFinder Solar about Soliant Energy's products and services, as well as to give his perspective on the commercial aspect of going solar. Read on to find out how commercial panels and systems vary from the components you install on your homes. Here's Marc's guest post:

Soliant Energy is a solar module manufacturer located in Monrovia, CA. Our mission is to deliver the highest performing solar modules to commercial rooftops, providing our customers with superior ROI and the cheapest solar electricity at the plug.  We do this with our rooftop tracking module, which combines concentrator components such as Fresnel lenses and ultra-high efficiency triple-junction solar cells with integrated sun tracking to deliver superior energy harvest. We're also designed to be packed tightly together onto rooftops, providing significant installation cost savings and superior energy density.  The net effect is that we can deliver more energy per square foot of rooftop than any product in the industry.

Commercial vs. Residential Panels

Most flat plat modules are used for both commercial and residential applications; in general you would find that commercial installers would prefer a larger footprint/wattage module to lessen their installation costs.  Our module is unique in that it was designed specifically to be installed for a commercial rooftop to enable the maximum energy harvest from that rooftop.

First, it has a long, thin design to allow more modules to be packed in closely together; this also allows us to minimize racking and wiring and save installation costs. Second, our "tip and tilt" tracking architecture is built in to the module itself, so we can follow the sun all day and maximize our energy collection while minimizing shading effects. Third, by using very high efficiency solar cells (40%) and Fresnel lenses to focus sunlight onto those cells, we get the most use out of the available sunlight. By combining these effects, we're able to satisfy a commercial customer's main motivation: to maximize the return on their solar investment.

Panel Design: Reflectors and Trackers

Many panel designs use reflective elements in their panels; it just depends upon the underlying technology that's involved. Our secondary optics receive the focused sunlight from the Fresnel lenses and "stir the light beams" to ensure a uniform light spectrum when it hits the cell.  This maximizes the energy throughput of that cell.

Most trackers are designed for large, ground-mounted systems and aren't transferrable to rooftop systems. These systems are very large, so the tracking systems have to be equally large; picture a billboard sitting on top of a pole, trying to follow the sun and you'll get a picture of what most tracking systems are trying to accomplish. Our system, in contrast, is designed specifically for a rooftop, so the components are much smaller and avoid the problems of larger systems. Our tracking motors are smaller than windshield wiper motors, compared to others the size of car engines.

To find out more, visit Soliant Energy's website: http://www.soliantenergy.com/

- As the Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Soliant Energy, Marc Cortez is responsible for sales, product management, public relations, and marketing communications.  Before joining Soliant, he had been the Director of Marketing for Sharp Solar, helping them become the world's market leader; and prior to his work at Sharp, he was the Marketing Director for Shell Solar. All told, he's been in the solar industry for approximately 10 years.