Press release 2-Megawatt solar power plant installed in Bulgaria with inverters made by Sputnik Engineering Biel, 28.09.2010. Today, the Bulgarian company Sunservice Ltd. is commissioning its first photovoltaic power plant fitted with SolarMax inverters in the western Bulgarian town of Ihtiman. The system delivers an output of 2 megawatts. Beside amorphous silicon modules the Sofia based company has also installed six central inverters of the type SolarMax 330C- SV. The devices each have a rated output of 330 kilowatts and achieve a maximum efficiency of 98 percent. When selecting the inverters, the head of Sunservice, Rumen Christov, attached great importance to high quality and know-how. "Sputnik has a lot of experience with central inverters," says Christov. He expects the solar plant to produce 1,250 kilowatt hours per kilowatt annually. Based on the present Bulgarian infeed rate for power, the plant operator will be paid 37.2 euro cents for every kilowatt hour produced. Because of the good irradiation conditions and the attractive price, Christov expects rapid growth in the Bulgarian solar market. "At present, in Bulgaria, less than 10 megawatts of photovoltaic capacity is installed,“ says Christov. "This year, new plants with an overall capacity of 10 to 50 megawatts will be built. By 2015, in Bulgaria, plants will be producing a total output of 500 to 1,000 megawatts of solar power. By 2020 this figure will rise to 2.5 to 4 gigawatts.“ Sputnik's head of sales and marketing, Daniel Freudiger, is looking forward to more projects in this Balkan country: “Bulgaria is a very important growth market for us. We have already signed several excellent partnerships and will continuously expand our network.” This past March, for example, in eastern Bulgaria the Swiss inverter manufacturer commissioned the country's largest solar plant with an overall capacity of 2.4 megawatts fitted with SolarMax central inverters. Ihtiman plant details Power output 2 MW Modules Amorphous silicon modules made by Polar PV Inverters SolarMax 330C-SV (6x) Inclination and orientation Inclination 32°, South Expected annual yield 1,250 kWh/kW Commissioning September 2010 Sputnik Engineering AG · Höheweg 85 · CH-2502 Biel/Bienne · Tel : +41 32 346 56 00 · Fax: +41 32 346 56 09 · [email protected] · www.solarmax.com About Sunservice Ltd. Sunservice Ltd. was found in Sofia in mid 2007. The managing director Rumen Christov employs a staff of 35 with the planning and construction of solar power plants. The company is focused on the construction of large-scale power plants. About Sputnik Engineering AG Sputnik Engineering AG, a Swiss company, is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of grid-connected solar inverters. Under the name SolarMax the company develops, produces and sells inverters for every facility – from photovoltaic systems on single-family homes whose kilowatt output is modest, to the solar power plants whose output is measured in megawatts. The inverter is a key component of the solar plant, transforming the generated direct current into grid-compliant alternating current. Superior efficiency and long service life are the hallmarks of SolarMax products, whose technology is always state of the art, because of their reliable Swiss quality. Today, Sputnik Engineering has a staff of 330 at its Swiss corporate headquarters and its subsidiaries in Neuhausen (Germany), Madrid (Spain), Milan (Italy) and Saint Priest (France) and at their branch locations in Brussels and Prague. Publisher Sputnik Engineering AG Höheweg 85 CH-2502 Biel/Bienne Tel.: +41 32 346 56 00 Fax. +41 32 346 56 09 [email protected] www.solarmax.com Press contact Press Agency Krampitz Dillenburger Straße 85 DE-51105 Cologne Tel. +49 221 912 499 49 Fax +49 221 912 499 48 [email protected] For additional graphic material, please use following link: http://media.wcd.ch/pindownload/login.do?pin=RB9T5 PIN-Code: RB9T5 Copyright: Sunservice Print free of charge. Voucher copy requested to the media contact. If you have any further inquiries, we would be glad to assist you. Sputnik Engineering AG · Höheweg 85 · CH-2502 Biel/Bienne · Tel : +41 32 346 56 00 · Fax: +41 32 346 56 09 · [email protected] · www.solarmax.com .