Italy gazing at solar power

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MILAN, Italy, May 6 (UPI) -- California solar company SunPower Corp. announced it was building a 1.3-megawatt solar power plant in central Italy for an Italian energy developer.

SunPower said it was building the solar power plant in the Lazio region of Italy for a subsidiary of Italian developer EDF Energies Nouvelles, and Emmecidue, an Italian project developer.

The California solar cell manufacturer said it was installing a new version of solar panels on a 4.7-hectare site in the Italian province of Frosinone. The 96-cell panel has an 18 percent efficiency rating. The panels are installed on a tracking system that receives 25 percent more solar energy than conventional systems.

The Italian partner in the Frosinone project uses the solar panel series at separate sites in the country and has plans to install another 2.8 megawatts worth of solar technology.

SunPower said it has more than 550 megawatts of solar power systems installed globally, including a 24-megawatt plant in Montalto di Castro, Italy's largest.