SGG ALBARINO extra-clear patterned glass,

Until now, the Covilis facility has focused on manufacturing SGG Albarino extra-clear glass for use in photovoltaic (PV) panels. The Group invested more than €20 million to add a 12,000 square-meter extension for producing parabolic cylindrical mirrors.

Covilis now boasts the Group´s first large parabolic cylindrical mirror line, with an annual production capacity of more than 2 million square meters. This is enough to supply five 50-MW solar parks a year-equivalent to the annual consumption of a city of 150,000-and avoid up to 149,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions that would come from a conventional coal-fired power plant. This new line makes Covilis the world´s largest parabolic cylindrical mirror plant, supplying Southern Europe, the United States, the Middle East, Australia and other regions.

With this brand new facility at the leading edge of the world´s best available technologies, Saint-Gobain intends to speed its growth in renewable energies and advance its strategy of deploying across the solar value chain and technology base, including photovoltaic panels, solar concentrators and solar heating systems.

The parabolic solar concentrator market enjoys vibrant demand, thanks to tax incentives and institutional support. According to certain estimates*, installed capacity worldwide could reach 50GW by 2020. Saint-Gobain is aiming to serve nearly 30% of the solar concentrator market by 2010.