SunPower to sell energy storage, potentially lithium ion batteries

Solar company SunPower plans to roll out its first energy storage product, possibly lithium-ion batteries, in a bid to expand its share of the rooftop solar market, company executives said on Wednesday during the company's analyst day. CEO Tom Werner told analysts that selling energy increasingly will require more comprehensive solutions, including energy storage technologies, and explained "this is a fundamental change in how solar companies compete."

Adding energy storage reflects the evolution of the company, which started off as a solar cell and panel maker before it entered the power plant development business. SunPower has carried out pilot energy storage projects in recent years and worked with different energy storage technologies, including advanced lead acid and zinc bromide batteries.

But lithium-ion batteries "will likely be the first technology to have an impact," said Jack Peurach, executive vice president of products. The emergence of electric cars plays a role in making lithium-ion battery the front runner for being paired with solar, he added.

SunPower & Flextronics Factory in Milpitas, CA

SunPower executives didn't provide details, such as the timing and battery suppliers, for its energy storage plans. But the discussion puts SunPower on a growing roster of solar energy companies that are offering or plan to offer energy storage.

SolarCity, for example, has been bundling lithium-ion batteries from Tesla Motors with its solar energy systems and applying for a California program that subsidizes energy storage installations. One Roof Energy is working with battery maker Silent Power to roll out products. Korean conglomerate Hanwha Group, which runs a solar panel manufacturing subsidiary, is an investor in both OneRoof and Silent Power. SunEdison has done a pilot project with a battery system from startup Seeo.

Energy storage will be part of SunPower's plan to expand its reach in the commercial and residential market, where it sells power purchase agreements or leases via its dealers or its own project development business. The company designs the power purchase agreements for its commercial and government customers and leases for homeowners. Power purchase agreements and leases work in similar ways: business or home owners sign a long-term contract of up to 20 years and pay a monthly fee for the solar electricity from the SunPower solar energy systems on their rooftops.

SunPower's foray into the energy storage business will prompt more comparison with SolarCity, which started in 2006 as purely a solar installer. SolarCity is most active in the residential and commercial markets, but it scored the first utility project last year. As a result, the two companies have been competing more intensely in recent years.

In fact, a lawsuit filed by SunPower against SolarCity and five people last year highlighted that rivalry. The lawsuit accused five former SunPower employees of stealing confidential data and brought the data with them when they went to work for SolarCity. The two companies settled on Dec. 31, 2012, and a judge dismissed the lawsuit in January, SolarCity said in its 2012 annual report. It didn't disclose the amount of the settlement.

SunPower executives didn't say whether they will sell energy storage in the United States first or in other regions. Werner said that, for now, energy storage makes financial sense only in markets that offers government incentives. That would include California, Germany and Japan.

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http://gigaom.com/2013/05/16/solar-company-sunpower-to-sell-energy-sto

Solar financing startup Clean Power Finance raises $37M from Google Ventures, Kleiner

There's one area of solar that is going gangbusters in 2013, and that's companies that are financing and installing solar panels on rooftops. On Monday morning solar financing startup Clean Power Finance announced that it has raised a round of $37 million in growth equity from investors including Google Ventures, Kleiner Perkins and Claremont Creek Venture. Odds are, it's a pretty safe bet even for the venture capitalists that have been scared of ...

http://gigaom.com/2013/04/08/solar-financing-startup-clean-power-finan

Will NRG Energy be the next ten ton gorilla in solar leases?

NRG Energy, one of the most aggressive power companies to invest in solar projects, is considering getting into offering leases for solar panel roof systems for home owners and businesses. NRG Energy's CEO David Crane tells Bloomberg that it is something that they're "looking at in a very serious way," and NRG Solar's CEO Tom Doyle told me last month that the company has been inreasingly talking about financing options for solar roofs and in part ...

http://gigaom.com/2013/03/25/will-nrg-energy-be-the-next-ten-ton-goril

Post-IPO, SolarCity plans to ratchet up solar roofs to 250MW in 2013

Following an IPO that saw solar installer and financier SolarCity's shares rise almost 50 percent on its first day of trading, the Elon Musk-backed company now says it has a robust growth plan in place for its solar roofs in 2013. This year, SolarCity says it plans to install 250 MW of solar roof capacity, up from 156 MW of solar roofs capacity installed in 2012. To put that in perspective, the entire solar panel industry in the U.S. is estimated ...

http://gigaom.com/cleantech/post-ipo-solarcity-plans-to-ratchet-up-sol

5 charts that show the massive growth of solar in 2012 [charts]

Despite solar manufacturers' struggles with bankruptcies and an oversupply problem this year, 2012 actually witnessed a dramatic growth in the world's use of solar power. In particular the amount of solar panels installed on rooftops in the U.S. soared in recent quarters, helped by new financing models by companies like SolarCity and rock-bottom silicon prices - the main ingredient in solar panels.

In these 5 charts, we track the growth of solar power:

1). The amount of solar energy produced in the U.S. has risen 500 percent in 2012 alone, according to the Energy Information Administration.

2). The increase in solar production has to do in part with the growth of solar panel installation and capacity in the U.S. Solar panel installation is expected to rise nearly 70 percent this year, according to the Solar Energy Industry Association's third-quarter report.

3). SolarCity's IPO in late 2012 was one of the rare success stories for solar and cleantech startups. While some solar stocks have taken hits this year - due to over supply and super low prices - SolarCity was able to go public and its stock rose 50 percent on its first day of trading. The company, which finances and installs rooftop solar panels, originally priced its shares lower than expected, but the company's stock price remains relatively high.

4). The price of silicon - the main material in solar panels - has dropped by half in less than two years, making solar panels cheaper to produce and to buy. The low prices, in turn, have fueled the growth of solar panel installations.

5). As is common with new commodity industries that grow rapidly, solar cells and panels are now so cheap to produce and make that there's an oversupply problem. According to SEIA, there's now 70 GW worth of solar module manufacturing capacity, but the current world capacity for solar modules is only 31 GW.

http://gigaom.com/cleantech/5-charts-that-show-the-amazing-growth-in-s