More reports keep coming in that solar power is hitting it "big time." Trefis, reports in MSNBC Online, that a 25-acre solar roof to be built in New Jersey, North America's biggest solar roof will atop a marine terminal.
SunPower is thinking big — even more so after French oil giant Total S.A. acquired 60 percent of the solar energy firm this spring. The company followed up its recent launch of the most efficient mass-produced solar cell in the world with an announcement that it will soon start construction of the biggest solar roof in North America. SunPower has entered into a contract for a 1.1 million square-foot solar installation atop the Gloucester Marine Terminal in Gloucester, N.J. The company's primary competitors include First Solar, Suntech Power and China-based Yingli Green Energy Holding Company.
The Gloucester Marine Terminal near the Walt Whitman Bridge on the Delaware River is owned by the Holt family. The installation will use 27,528 photovoltaic rooftop solar panels from SunPower, and will have a power generation capacity of 9 megawatts. The electricity generated — sufficient to power 1,500 homes — will account for as much as 80 percent of the power needs of the terminal, a shipping facility that boasts the largest refrigerated capacity of any terminal in the United States.
The $42 million privately funded project is already under way, and will be completed this fall.
Isn't amazing when you read a story like this about an announcement of plans to build a 9 megawatt generating plant, on top of an existing 1.1 million square-foot roof top, and in the next paragraph, we read it is expected to be completed by this fall?
A slightly sad aspect of this story is to see 60% of Sunpower being acquired by the French oil company, Total SA, after Sunpower acquired Powerlight.
As the solar power industry matures and is becoming more reliable profitable, it is also consolidating, and drawing in traditional energy companies who see this wave of the future, and intend to stay on top of it.
SunPower has significant expertise in manufacturing and installing residential and commercial solar systems. The company only recently began venturing into large-scale utility power projects with the acquisition of PowerLight Corporation.
We also see these other companies, mentioned over and over, as the emergent leaders in roof-top photovoltaic generation.
First Solar is still largely an American own firm, although it is now traded on the NASDAQ, so we don't really know who owns the shares. But, it's headquarters and much of its production facilities are here, but also growing in Vietnam, and Malaysia.
Wikipedia tells us:
First Solar, Inc. is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of thin film photovoltaic (PV) modules, or solar panels, which can convert sunlight to electricity at competitive prices. Using cadmium telluride (CdTe) as a semiconductor instead of the more common crystalline silicon, First Solar’s modules are economical and productive in a variety of temperature and light conditions.[3]
First Solar was the first module maker to lower its manufacturing cost below the $1-per-watt threshold, bringing generation cost into the range of power produced by conventional means.[4] Thin film solar modules have the smallest carbon footprint and fastest energy payback time of current PV technologies.[5]
Originally founded by Harold McMaster as Solar Cells, Inc., First Solar was purchased by True North Partners, LLC, in 1999 and rebranded as First Solar, Inc. After an initial public offering in 2006, First Solar became a publicly-traded company on the NASDAQ [6] and later became the first pure play renewable energy company to be listed on the S&P 500.[7]
In September 2009, First Solar appointed Robert J. Gillette as Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Mike Ahearn . Mr. Gillette joined First Solar from Honeywell Aerospace, where he served as CEO and president.
In 2010, First Solar ranked 7th in Fortune’s 2010 ranking of the 100 Fastest Growing Companies [8] and 6th in Fast Company’s ranking of the World’s 50 most innovative companies.[9] In 2011, it ranked 1st on Forbes’s list of America’s 25 fastest-growing technology companies.
SunTech is a Chinese firm, and according to Wikipedia, the largest producer of solar panels in 2010.
Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (Chinese: 尚德; pinyin: Shàngdé) (NYSE: STP) is the world's largest producer of solar panels, with 1,800MW of annual production capacity by the end of 2010. With offices or production facilities in every major market, Suntech has delivered more than 13,000,000 solar panels to thousands of companies in more than 80 countries around the world. As the center for the company's global operations, Suntech headquarters, in Wuxi, China, features the world's largest building integrated solar facade.
So, everyday, we see more evidence that the solar photovoltaic industry, has arrived and is moving out of its pioneering days, into a fast growing, but maturing industry.
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3:49 PM PT: For completeness here is an overview from Wikepedia of Yingli Green Energy Holding Company, that has adopted a verticle integration strategy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Yingli (NYSE: YGE; Chinese: 英利) also known as Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited (simplified Chinese: 英利绿色能源控股有限公司; pinyin: Yīnglì Lǜsè Néngyuán Kònggǔ Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī), which holds the brand Yingli Solar, is a solar energy company and one of the largest vertically integrated manufacturers of photovoltaic solar modules. The company has more than 6000 employees and 10 sales offices worldwide, and plans to open a new manufacturing facility in either Phoenix or Austin.[1]
Yingli Green Energy was founded by Liansheng Miao, who is the chair of the board and chief executive officer. Yingli Green Energy has been adopting a Vertical integration business model since 2004 and started with an initial annual capacity of 6 MW in ingot, wafer and cell, and 50 MW in module[clarification needed]. In July 2009, the annual production capacity of each stage of the value chain reached 600MW. As a final step to make Yingli a completely vertically integrated business model, the company, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Fine Silicon Company Limited, began the trial production of high quality solar-grade and electronic-grade polysilicon in December 2009.
Yingli Green Energy markets the brandname Yingli Solar.
Yingli's products include both the raw material and the end product, including polysilicon ingots, wafers, photovoltaic cells, photovoltaic modules, and photovoltaic integrated systems. The production of ingots and wafers is a vital part of Yingli's control of cost and quality.[2] Although the manufacturing model is vertically integrated, the company, unlike many competitors, does not develop solar projects.
The company held 27% of the California market in 2009, the largest United States market.[4] This performance contrasts with the 10% share held by Suntech, another Chinese manufacturer, and the 16% position of all American companies combined.[5]