Phoenix Solar AG (ISIN DE000A0BVU93), a leading international photovoltaic system integrator listed in Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, has successfully taken its flagship project in Saudi Arabia into operation.

• Ground-mounted solar power plant with a peak power of 3.5 megawatts
• The installation is equipped by 12,684 crystalline silicon PV modules supplied by Suntech and is owned by Saudi Arabian oil company Saudi Aramco.

The ground-mounted photovoltaic plant with a peak power of 3.5 megawatts is located in Riyadh on the premises of KAPSARC (King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center), home to the world's largest oil research facility. The solar power plant is part of the US Green Building Council's LEED Certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) which KAPSARC aims to achieve. This certification is proof of compliance with the demanding requirements and standards placed on sustainable and green building.

Over the last 20 months, Phoenix Solar has installed more than 12,000 Suntech Power crystalline modules on an area of 55,000 square meters. The German company SMA supplied the central inverters. The expected energy yield amounts to around 5,800 megawatt hours and is fed directly into KAPSARC's medium voltage grid.

This project in the Saudi Arabian desert presented many challenges, as there is little research available so far on the performance of solar power plants in desert regions. Phoenix has developed a special solution to accommodate the high temperatures and sand storms: the photovoltaic array boxes, which normally stand in the field array, were placed in a well insulated, air-conditioned inverter building. This approach considerably improves the conditions under which the power plant can be maintained as well as prolonging its life cycle. The engineers and technicians of Phoenix Solar have incorporated the demanding requirements based on the Saudi Aramco Standards into the planning, electrical work, air conditioning technology and lighting. Saudi Aramco as the Project Management Consultant was responsible for the whole project on behalf of KAPSARC.