ConEdison, SunPower to install 1.2 MW solar system on Alcatel-Lucent US site

(ADPnews) - Nov 5, 2010 - Franco-US telecoms equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent (EPA:ALU) said on Wednesday it picked US ConEdison Development and SunPower Corp (NASDAQ:SPWRA) to install a 1.2 MW solar system at its campus in New Jersey.

Under the agreement, solar equipment maker SunPower will design and build the solar panels, while clean energy project developer ConEdison Development, a unit of Consolidated Edison Inc (NYSE:ED), will own and run the system. ConEdison Development will also own the solar renewable energy credits (SRECs) and environmental benefits associated with the system. Alcatel-Lucent will lease the land to ConEdison for a 15-year period and in return will buy the electricity produced at a rate below the retail price under a 15-year power purchase agreement.

The solar installation will include more than 3,700 panels of 318 watts each, spread on 6 acres (2.4 hectares) of land. The system will produce enough energy to power 200 households a year, Alcatel-Lucent said. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, the system will save 25,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions during its 30-year operation.

The system is expected to yield USD 2.5 million (EUR 1.8m) in cost savings in the next 15 years, according to Alcatel-Lucent.

It is scheduled to start operation in the spring of 2011.

(USD 1.0 = EUR 0.708)

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