Inauguration of Central America’s largest photovoltaic plant on the roof of the German School in San Salvador

Downloads

Inauguration of Central America’s largest photovoltaic plant on the roof of the German School in San Salvador [ PDF | 54.29kb ]

Phönix SonnenStrom AG completes this flagship project as part of the solar roof programme of Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH (dena)

Sulzemoos/Berlin/San Salvador, 8 April 2005 / The inauguration ceremony of the largest photovoltaic plant in Central America took place on 7 April 2005 at the German School in San Salvador, attended by Elías Antonio Saca, the President of El Salvador, as the guest of honour. This flagship project, which Phönix SonnenStrom AG (ISIN DE000A0BVU93) has now completed, originated as part of the solar roof programme of Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH (German Energy Agency, or dena for short), an initiative aimed at opening up the international market for solar technology.

The aim of the programme is to transfer knowledge of the options for application, the technology, the costs and the yield of solar technology “made in Germany” to foreign markets, the support of German companies in the developing of these markets, as well as presenting state-of-the-art photovoltaic systems destined for German schools or facilities abroad to the public at large.

Stephan Kohler, dena’s Managing Director on the topic: “Our solar roof project on the German School in San Salvador is intended to demonstrate and visualise the technical possibilities of generating solar energy and facilitate the entry of solar energy companies based in Germany into the market of Central America."

The peak output of the solar electricity system on the roof of the German School in San Salvador is 20 kilowatt. The system will generate a projected 30,000 kilowatt-hours of environmentally compatible electricity a year. This energy will either be directly used by the school or, on school-free days, sold to the grid of the local utility. At the inauguration ceremony, Elías Antonio Saca, President of El Salvador, Hugo Barrera, the Minister of the Environment, and Dr. Joachim Neukirch, the German Ambassador, declared their conviction that the solar electricity system would play a future-oriented and pioneering role in the area of renewable energy in El Salvador. Saca is convinced that there will be more innovative solar projects to follow.

dena’s flagship project is made up of two parts: On the one hand, the planning and construction of a solar electricity system and, on the other, a campaign which includes the dissemination of information on the topic of solar energy, combined with marketing and training measures. To this end, Phönix SonnenStrom AG and its local partners, the University of Central America and the German-Salvadorian Chamber of Commerce, will be offering a series of information events and training sessions for specialised companies. Together they will develop information material and report on the solar project in the press and on the internet. The pupils of the German School in El Salvador will be able to access a server belonging to the school to find out more about how "their" solar electricity plant works. To round off the solar campaign, trips will be arranged for Salvadorian school children interested in solar energy to visit the German School’s state-of-the-art solar facility.

“The solar project in El Salvador is Phönix SonnenStrom AG’s first step towards establishing itself in Latin America. In future, the company will be positioning itself in this high-growth region as a competent partner for the use of solar electricity, in both off-grid and grid-connected solar electricity plants”, commented Dr. Murray Cameron, member of the Board of Directors of Phönix SonnenStrom AG, at the inauguration ceremony in El Salvador.

The solar roof project is being financed in the form of a public-private partnership involving the German Federal Ministry of the Economy and Labour, Phönix SonnenStrom AG, SMA Technologie AG, Rosendahl Energietechnik GmbH and private sources of funding in El Salvador.

For more information on the flagship project, please see: www.exportinitiative.de and www.solardach-el-salvador.de

About Phönix SonnenStrom AG
Phönix SonnenStrom AG, based in Sulzemoos near Munich, is a leading photovoltaic systems supplier. In the financial year 2006, the Phönix SonnenStrom Group generated sales of EUR 119 million (preliminary figure) in Germany and abroad. Phönix SonnenStrom AG designs, builds and operates large-scale photovoltaic power plants and is a wholesaler of complete solar electricity systems, solar modules and components. The Group is a market leader in photovoltaic systems technology. The focus of activities is on the consistent reduction of system costs. With a sales network covering the whole of Germany, and subsidiaries in Spain and Singapore, as well as a minority partner in Italy, the Group currently has over 100 employees. The shares of Phönix SonnenStrom AG (ISIN DE000A0BVU93) are listed on the regulated market (Prime Standard) on the Frankfurt stock exchange.

About dena
Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH (dena), headquartered in Berlin, is the Centre of Competence for energy efficiency and an information platform on the topic. The agency develops, initiates and coordinates projects, programmes and campaigns designed to promote energy efficiency in Germany. Its primary goal is to use energy in a rational and environmentally compatible way, to increasingly tap sources of renewable energy and to forge ahead in promoting innovative technologies and services. This market is set to become more independent of state subsidisation in the medium term. This is the reason why dena cooperates closely with companies, associations and politicians to develop the market for energy efficiency and renewable energies through intelligent alliances.

For further information please contact
Phönix SonnenStrom AG		Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH (dena)
Hirschbergstraße 8		Chausseestraße 128a
D-85254 Sulzemoos		D-10115 Berlin

Presse- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit		Pressereferentin
Andrea Zepf		Stella Matsoukas
Tel.	+49 (0)8135 938 - 313	Tel.	+ 49 (0)30 726 16 56 - 57
Fax	+49 (0)8135 938 - 399	Fax	+ 49 (0)30 726 16 56 - 99
Zepf@SonnenStromAG.de		matsoukas@dena.de
www.SonnenStromAG.de		www.dena.de