SunPower
| Company type | Public (Nasdaq: SPWRA,SPWRB) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Solar Energy |
| Founded | 1985 |
| Founder | Dr. Richard Swanson |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Thomas H. Werner (CEO) Dr. Richard Swanson (President) Emmanuel T. Hernandez (CFO) |
| Products | Solar panels |
| Revenue |  US$774,790,000 (2007) |
 US$2,342,000 (2007) | |
| US$9,202,000 (2007) | |
| Total assets | US$1,653,738,000 (2007) |
| Total equity | US$864,090,000 (2007) |
Number of employees | 2,219 (2007) |
| Website | sunpowercorp.com |
| Footnotes / references Financials from SunPower Corporation [1] | |
SunPower Corporation designs and manufactures high-efficiency silicon solar cells, roof tiles and solar panels based on an all-back-contact solar cell invented at Stanford University. SunPower currently holds the world record for practical scale silicon solar cell efficiency, with an efficiency of 23.4% in May 2008[2] SunPower is publicly traded on the NASDAQ as SPWRA and SPWRB.
SunPower is vertically integrated, meaning that it makes both its solar cells and the panels on which they are mounted, and designs and installs systems for customers [3].
History
The company transplanted its manufacturing line from Palo Alto to a Cypress Semiconductor plant in Texas and then to a newly built fab in Manila . Besides Cypress, major shareholders include Legg Mason, BlackRock Group, Deutsche Bank, and Janus [4].
Grid parity
SunPower can cut its costs in half by 2012, getting the price of solar down to about 12 cents a kilowatt-hour - reaching grid parity with much of the U.S.A [5].
Installations
SunPower has recently announced a number of projects around the world that utilize its patented solar tracker technology. The company maintains a market-leading position in Spain with more than 61 megawatts installed or under construction; recently completed a 2.2-megawatt solar power plant in Mungyeong, Korea; and the largest solar installation in the U.S., the 15-megawatt Nellis Solar Power Plant in Nevada.[6][7]
On October 6, 2008, Agilent Technologies Inc. and SunPower Corporation announced that a 1-megawatt solar tracking system at Agilent's campus will start producing electricity in mid-October. The system features a three-acre parking lot canopy structure with nearly 3,500 SunPower solar panels that track the sun throughout the day. The design of SunPower's tracking solar system will generate up to 25 percent more energy for Agilent than a similarly sized flat, rooftop system, the company said. As a result, Agilent's solar parking canopy is the largest solar energy generator in Sonoma County, California.
SunPower provided the solar cells for the NASA/AeroVironment Pathfinder-Plus high-altitude UAV, which then set an altitude record of Template:Ft to m for solar-powered and propeller-driven aircraft.[8][9]
See also
- Renewable energy companies on the stock exchange
- Green technology
- Helios Prototype
- Photovoltaic array
- Photovoltaics
- Power purchase agreement
- Renewable energy
- Serpa solar power plant in Portugal
- Solar panel
- Solar power
- Solar shingle
- Solar tracker
- Suntech Power
- Timeline of solar energy
References
- ^ SunPower Corporation SunPower Corporation
- ^ SunPower Announces $330 Million Global Solar Supply Agreement With PowerLight
- ^ http://money.cnn.com/2007/10/03/news/companies/sunpower_solar.fortune/
- ^ http://money.cnn.com/2007/10/03/news/companies/sunpower_solar.fortune/index2.htm
- ^ http://money.cnn.com/2007/10/03/news/companies/sunpower_solar.fortune/index2.htm
- ^ Next Generation SunPower Tracker Introduced
- ^ Nellis activates Nations largest PV Array
- ^ NAA record database
- ^ NASA Pathfinder fact sheet, archived at archive.org