Australian CSPV developer Raygen signs $60m deal in China

Australian concentrated solar PV (CSPV) developer RayGen Resources says it has signed a $60 million investment and distribution agreement with Chinese company ZhouZhou Intense Solar.

Raygen, a Melbourne-based solar start-up that predicted in 2012 that it could bring the costs of utility-scale solar down to $60/MWH, says the agreement will see Intense Solar inject $2 million into the company and assemble Australian made components of the technology.

The deal was signed during the Australian government’s trade mission to China. Trade minister Andrew Robb, said it was a “tremendous example of Australian innovation finding a market in China which results in jobs, investment and trade for Australia.”

Intense Solar will sell the complete CSPV product within China on an exclusive basis. RayGen says this will guarantee minimum sales of high tech components of $58 million over the next few years.

CSPV uses computer‐controlled mirrors to direct a concentrated beam of sunlight onto ultra‐efficient solar semiconductor devices, which in the case of RayGen originally designed to power spacecraft.

RayGen says these devices are twice as efficient as traditional solar panels, and enables industrial‐capacity solar energy delivered off the grid at on‐the‐grid prices. “RayGen’s solution will produce clean power more cheaply than fossil fuel generation especially in remote, sunny areas,” a statement said.

RayGen CEO Bob Cart said the technology was a compelling proposition for rapidly developing markets like China.

Cart said he hoped the RayGen deal would pave the way for other Australian technology companies to commercialise their ideas by value‐adding to the mass‐production capabilities of economic powers like China and other offshore markets.

“Our partnership with Intense Solar shows there’s a significant export market to be gained from this approach and, based on the current trajectory, we believe sales of CSPV products will pass the billion‐dollar mark by the end of the decade”, Cart said..

RayGen was a finalist in the 2013 Australian Technologies Competition (formerly known as the Australian Cleantech Competition) supported by the Department of Industry. This led to an invitation by AusTrade for RayGen to join the trade mission to China.

RayGen has received $2.75million in Federal and State Government grants since its inception in 2010. It is also working on a patent for storage technology.