Abu Dhabi-based Masdar PV, an innovative manufacturer of thin-film photovoltaic products, said it has completed the largest solar power plant in Germany and that too in record time of less than two months.

The new solar park has been set up on a former military property at Gotha in state of Thuringia, Germany, said a statement from Masdar.

The plant was designed and constructed by UAE-based system integrator Enviromena Power Systems, which had earlier collaborated with Masdar on a variety of PV projects including a 10MW solar power farm installed in 2009 at Masdar City in Abu Dhabi.

It has completed all the conditions for obtaining the EEG feed-in tariffs of 2011, it added.

In the new solar park, a mixture of Masdar PV’s hitech dual-junction amorphous/micromorph and established amorphous (a-Si) modules will operate. More than 50,000 solar panels will provide a nominal output of 11.7 MWp for the local power grid, it added.

Commenting on the achievement, Masdar CEO Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber said: 'This project is the largest PV installation of solar modules in Thuringia and the first application of our new micromorph silicon technology using full size module at high efficiency.'

'With an annual energy production of 10.5 million kilowatt hours, the installation will produce enough power to supply around 2,500 four-person households,' he stated.

According to Al Jaber, the project supports the UAE leadership’s vision of making Masdar a preeminent source for knowledge and development of renewable energy.

'The effective project management and co-ordination with the state of Thuringia and system integrator were the major reasons for the fast construction of the park. This enables us to further contribute to the region’s power supply with renewable energies,' he said.

In addition, this project will enable Masdar PV to save approximately 9,300 tons of CO2 emissions annually, the equivalent of the emissions of more than 4,000 medium-sized cars.

The application of 17,320 micromorph full size modules was especially responsible for the fast and efficient installation of the park, which will also help advancing the company towards a more carbon neutral production of its modules.

The Gotha project also confirms Masdar PV’s commitment to provide sustainable energy in the State of Thuringia.

On the project completion, Enviromena CEO Sami Khoreibi said: “We are very pleased to be associated with Masdar PV on this important utility scale project. Of particular interest to us were the logistics associated with the first installation of Masdar PV’s full size modules.'

'More than half of the 11.7 MW plant are at 5.7 sq m size each substantially larger than any other solar module. We found the full size modules quite efficient to handle and in fact were able to install the entire field in less than six weeks.”

Besides Masdar PV’s solar modules, the plant incorporates technology from solar inverter manufacturer SMA, and solar racking manufacturers Krinner and PUK.-TradeArabia News Service