Mission Solar producing solar panels

Sep 20 - San Antonio Express-News (TX)

A spotless solar manufacturing plant on the South Side is the latest step in CPS Energy's plan to obtain 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020.

The $130 million factory owned by Mission Solar Energy is up and running at Brooks City Base. Last month, it shipped the first solar panels to CPS' newest solar farm, Alamo 3, in Northeast San Antonio near Loop 1604 and Interstate 10 .

There will be more shipments to come, as Mission Solar ramps up production of panels bound for three more CPS solar farms through 2016.

On Tuesday, Brad Miles , Mission Solar's executive vice president of manufacturing operations, showed off the high-tech production process that starts with thin silicon wafers that end up -- 18 hours later -- as solar cells.

As part of the process, chemicals are used to etch the surface of the wafer "to make it rough and be able to bounce light around," he said.

Mission Solar employees, suited up in protective gear, worked at their stations as plant visitors surveyed computer-controlled production areas that "conduct quality checks throughout" the process, Miles said. Alarms will sound if a flaw is detected.

After wafers are made into solar cells, lamps that imitate the power of the sun test their efficiency.

A computer readout showed how many watts each solar cell could generate. Cells coming off the line were tested at about 4.7 watts each.

"This is some of the highest conversion efficiency in the industry," Miles said, referring to the solar energy going to the cell that's converted to electricity.

Seventy-two cells are then arranged to make a 40-pound solar panel capable of generating an average 320 watts, Miles said.

Mission Solar's plant is now producing about 50 solar panels per hour and will add a second line to double that production to 100 solar panels per hour by mid-2015, Miles said. CPS' next solar farm will require solar panels sufficient to generate 5 megawatts. A megawatt can power about 200 homes on a hot afternoon when air conditioners are running.

Next up is CPS' Alamo 5 solar farm in Uvalde , which will be its largest at 100 megawatts. Construction is set to begin late this year, with completion planned for August 2015 .

Mission Solar's shipments to CPS' Alamo 6 solar farm will start in June 2015 , according to parent company OCI Solar Power's plan, and shipments should be complete by March 2016 . Shipments to Alamo 7 are to start in January 2016 and be complete by August 2016 .

Shipment schedules are subject to change, Mission Solar spokeswoman Laura Waldrum said in an email.

CPS hasn't announced the locations of Alamo 6 and 7 solar farms.

Alex Kim , president and CEO of Mission Solar, said the plant can be a launching pad to expand to other markets later. The plant's 85.6 acres at Brooks City Base is large enough to allow construction of two more factories of the same size as the existing plant.

"The Texas market is very hot," Kim said. "For us to be here is very lucky. We think we can have other customers in the U.S. and some presence in South America and globally."

The Mission Solar plant occupies 240,000 square feet, with the solar cell processing area stretching for 90,000 square feet and the solar module production assembly area 65,000 square feet. Support areas make up the rest.

As the plant boosts production, its workforce will grow. It has 240 employees now, will have 282 by year's end and 400 by mid-2015, Miles said.

Pay ranges from $12 to $15 an hour for the plant's 144 production workers and from $17 to $23 an hour for technicians. About 50 positions are held by office staff.

Mission Solar is part of a consortium that committed to investing more than $100 million in solar projects for CPS Energy and creating at least 800 jobs.

CPS spokeswoman Lisa Lewis said that "a big part of the decision in our selection of partners was the quality of their manufacturing and getting the highest efficiency, state-of-the-art resources here."

Mission Solar and San Antonio -based OCI Solar Power , "have delivered on that," she said.

While Mission Solar's manufacturing is tied up with serving CPS' needs until 2017, thereafter the company "can turn their attention to serving other customers," Lewis said. "They are very eager to do that because solar is taking off, especially in developing countries."

The panels Mission Solar is making can be used for utility-scale projects, such as being mounted on business rooftops.

vvaughan@express-news.net

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