SunPower acquires SolarBridge to pass all-in-one panels to mainstream

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SunPower has announced that it will buy SolarBridge to reduce the cost of solar through factory integration, reports Forbes.

SolarBridge provides microinverter technology and focuses on selling technology that gets integrated into a solar panel at the factory.

The resulting all-in-one panel is sold under the name of the panel manufacturer like Kyocera, which have been around for years and a peripheral phenomenon. Andalay Solar brought the first ones to market.

The factory integrated all-in-ones have their own risks while they help reduce labor and balance-of-systems costs. It is seen that inverters fail more often than panels.

The two technologies also decrease in price at different rates and the dealers can get the best pricing possible.

solarbridge-inverter
solarbridge-inverter

More of all-in-ones can be expected in the market with SunPower behind SolarBridge and will also decide about the fate of other companies specializing in solar electronics.

The fundamental technology varies, but the products from all solar electronics companies aim for developing more energy out of a single panel.

There is also a suggestion that SolarCity will buy SolarBridge and if it happens that could make Tigo and other smaller companies and other panel makers without a captive electronics supplier.

The acquisition also shows that SunPower is still powerful, which specializes in high-end, high-performance solar panels.

SunPower has entered into a deal with French energy provider Total in 2011 which proved successful.

In October, SunPower reported third quarter earnings per share of 30 cents on revenue of $704.2 million.

Sabeena Wahid

editor@greentechlead.com

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