A ceremony at the PSDA on Friday, January 18, officially marked the start of construction for the first outdoor applied research facilities of AtaMoS-TeC. These consist of 12 photovoltaic systems of 1.2 kWp, divided into three bifacial technologies and one monofacial technology.

The ceremony was attended by regional and university authorities, as well as representatives from the 17 partner institutions of this public-private consortium developed by SERC Chile.

Edward Fuentealba, leader of Research Line 3 at SERC Chile and executive director of AtaMoS-TeC, highlighted the project's progress to the press, describing it as “a unique initiative that brings together the capabilities of various institutions in pursuit of the sector's major challenge: reducing levelized solar energy costs to values below US$25 per MWh.”

Meanwhile, AtaMoS-TeC manager Bárbara Silva detailed the next phases of the initiative: The installation of the first modules adapted to the conditions of the Atacama Desert will be completed in February of this year. In March, the complete system will be tested and, if successful, the second phase will be launched in April. This phase lasts one year and consists of the specific measurement of module performance, balance of systems, and operation and maintenance. These results will allow for the implementation of further improvements to eventually achieve a commercial version.