First Solar Gives U.S. Residential Market Another Try
First Solar FSLR +3.55% is giving the U.S. residential market another attempt, with plans to build solar power projects and market electricity from each to multiple residential customers, the company said Wednesday.
The Arizona company is teaming up with Clean Energy Collective to develop and build so-called community solar projects, which are ground — instead of rooftop — installations that are close to the neighborhoods or towns that they serve.
First Solar also took an undisclosed amount of equity stake in Clean Energy Collective, a Colorado firm with experience developing community solar projects. First Solar is now the largest investor after Clean Energy Collective’s management.
Community solar is an alternative to rooftop solar and offers those who don’t have suitable roofs for solar panels or are renters to buy solar electricity. The solar energy wouldn’t be shipped directly to those who pay, though. Instead, electricity from a community solar project goes into the grid, and those who pay for a portion of the production (or own a stake in a project) will see their purchases reflected on their utility bills.
The two companies said they plan to build projects and market electricity to both residential and business customers on behalf of utilities. Clean Energy Collective typically sells stakes in a project to customers, who could be residents, businesses or cities, though it also owns some of the projects, said Tim Braun, a company spokesman. The company usually runs and maintains projects that it’s sold to customers.
Clean Energy Collective community solar
While First Solar, which makes its money in selling solar panels and developing large-scale solar power plants, marks the announcement as its entry into the U.S. residential market, it’s not the first try by the companyIn 2008, the company invested $25 million in SolarCity, now the nation’s largest residential solar installer, and saw some of its cadmium-telluride solar panels being installed on home roofs (there was a 100-megawatt solar panel supply deal with SolarCity SCTY +1.21%). That deal didn’t help First Solar gain much of a foothold in the residential rooftop market, though. First Solar’s panels weren’t as efficient as the silicon solar panels from rivals, for one thing. The limited space on a roof makes it more economical to install solar panels that can convert more sunlight into electricity. First Solar later sold its stake in SolarCity in the fourth quarter of 2010.
First Solar has since put more focus on improving the efficiency of its cadmium-telluride solar panels. It also bought a silicon solar panel company, TetraSun, whose technology is more efficient. First Solar executives have talked about using the silicon solar technology for rooftop projects, though there’s no reason why it couldn’t use it to build community solar installations as well.
The residential market has grown briskly, attracting new players and prompting existing companies to raise money and invest in technology and new market strategies to expand. Most recently, SolarCity and SunPower talked about rolling out online tools to make it easier for consumers to choose and buy solar equipment and find financing options.
The residential market added over 300 megawatts in the third quarter of this year, the highest quarterly figure ever, said GTM Research this week.
