New PV Solar Farm Underway in Germany

Germany will receive its biggest PV solar farm to date in Turnow-Preilack nearby Cottbus, Germany. The solar farm, which will have a capacity of 53 MW, is currently under construction

The project is a joint venture between juwi Solar GmbH and First Solar Inc. which will see 560,000 thins-film solar panels installed across the 162 hectare location. Juwi Solar GmbH is in charge of planning and construction of the project, and First Solar has been supplying the thin-film solar equipment. The two companies plan to sell the completed solar farm to an investor once finished.

“Solar farms such as Lieberose are very important for the future of all of the renewable energies. By their size and the efficiency with which the solar panels are produced, they contribute to significantly lower prices and to accelerating the advent of competitive solar electricity. This clearly increases the acceptance of solar energy,” said First Solar managing director Stephan Hansen

Lieberose, the solar farm, is expected to be completed by the end of 2009. The site location is a former military training centre used perviously by the Soviet Union in Germany. The site is one of the largest former military training facilities in Germany. The companies were able to lease the land for low cost fro the Brandenburg authorities in exchange for restoring the military site by removing any leftover grenade, shrapnel, and munitions waste left behind from training days.

Once the lease is finished, the solar farm will be relocated and the site will have been restored back to its original form prior to the Soviet Union’s training centre being established.