Enough solar energy hits the Earth’s surface in one hour to power the globe for a year. So it is no surprise that large-scale Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) is emerging as one of the most promising sources of renewable energy for the 21st century. But harnessing this energy requires a breakthrough solution. A solution that is more affordable. A solution that is big enough to meet tomorrow’s power needs but modular enough to deliver today. A solution that won’t consume our limited water resources to make electricity.
 That solution is called SunCatcher™…and it is designed and built right here in America by Stirling Energy Systems, Inc. (SES) of Phoenix, Arizona.
SunCatcher™ is a solar electric power system that uses a parabolic dish to concentrate the sun’s energy 1,300 times and uses a unique Stirling Cycle engine to convert this energy into clean, renewable power. SunCatcher™ is truly a next generation solution:
- World record for highest efficiency conversion of solar energy into grid electricity
- Lowest cost solar solution available today
- In full-scale production in 2010
- And unlike most CSP solutions, the only water SunCatcher™ uses is to wash the mirrors!
Public-Private Partnerships |
30 Years of Collaboration
In 1978, engineers at Ford Motor Company began developing early designs of a solar-powered Stirling engine that would eventually lead to development of what we know today as the SunCatcher™ Power System. Through the years, companies like McDonnell-Douglas and Boeing worked to improve the technology and the design.
In 1996, SES was formed to develop this technology and bring it to market. It bought the earlier designs and went to back to the lab, working in a public-private partnership with Sandia National Laboratories and US Department of Energy. Some of leading engineers and scientists in the world have perfected the design of the SunCatcher™ and created a system that is now ready to be manufactured and deployed in world-scale power plants. |
President Barack Obama
February 24, 2009
“We invented solar technology, but we’ve fallen behind countries like Germany and Japan in producing it…Well, I do not accept a future where the jobs and industries of tomorrow take root beyond our borders – and I know you don’t either. It is time for America to lead again.”
A New Kind of Power Company |
In Construction in 2010
Tessera Solar is a new independent power company and is the exclusive developer and operator for the SunCatcher™ Electric Power System. As part of the Stirling Energy group of companies, Tessera Solar works in partnership with local utilities to develop, build, own and operate large-scale solar facilities using the SunCatcher™ technology.
Beginning early in 2010, Tessera Solar will break ground on two of the world’s largest solar farms – both in California. Working with our partner companies, San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison, our Imperial Valley Project and our Calico Project will produce up to a combined 1,750MW of clean, renewable energy. Together, they will use up to 70, 000 SunCatcher™ units. Solar energy at a scale the world has never seen, using a breakthrough technology designed right here in America.
America is leading again.
Developed Here |
Manufactured Here
“The SunCatcher Power System is a breakthrough technology, but at its heart, it is an engine, mirrors, steel, and electric motors. Who better to build these at scale than the US Automotive Industry?”
Steve Cowman
CEO Stirling Energy Systems
The SunCatcher™ design has been proven. So when it was time to make the transition to large scale manufacturing, SES turned to Tier 1 automotive suppliers to help make the transition. We are now beginning the process of retooling existing factories in, Ohio, Michigan, Canada, and in other states around the US to begin producing SunCatchers™ at scale. More than 90% of all the content in SunCatcher™ is expected to be manufactured in North America.
It Begins With Energy |
It Ends With Jobs
The SunCatcher™ will help our nation and the world tackle climate change. It will also help put America back to work. The two California Projects alone are expected to create approximately one thousand new construction jobs. And when we get to full-scale manufacturing, we expect the SunCatcher™ manufacturing facilities to employ around 4,000 people.
Our sister company Tessera Solar International is already working on projects around the world to EXPORT SunCatchers™ to Europe, Africa, and Asia. Thanks to the dedication and ingenuity of a three-decade public-private partnerships, and in particular, the last decade of engineering development and technology advancements by SES, this breakthrough technology, designed and built in America, is poised to help the world begin tackling climate change. |
