Jump to content

Renewable Energy Corporation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Wiki Wacher (talk | contribs) at 10:01, 17 May 2020 (added company ownership, purchase price and sources). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Not to be confused with REC Solar.
REC Group (REC)
IndustrySolar energy
Founded1996; 28 years ago (1996)
Headquarters
Singapore Edit this on Wikidata
Number of locations
Singapore; USA (San Mateo, CA); Germany (Munich); India (Gurugram); Japan (Tokyo); Australia (Melbourne)
Area served
Worldwide (Americas, EMEA, APAC, Japan)
ProductsSolar panels
Production output
1.4 GW (2016) in Singapore
Number of employees
2,000 (2016)
ParentElkem Group
Websitewww.recgroup.com

REC Group (REC) is a leading European brand of solar panels and a vertically integrated solar energy company. REC manufactures silicon, wafers, cells, high-quality solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, and also provides turnkey Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC).[1][2]

REC was founded in Norway in 1996 and has since come a long way; from hand-washing its first wafer to producing a cumulative total of 26 million panels in its history at end-2016.[3] REC is headquartered in Norway, with operational headquarters in Singapore. The company employs 2,000 people worldwide, with regional offices, local representatives, and partnerships in Europe, USA and Asia-Pacific regions.

Initially, the letters R-E-C stood for "Renewable Energy Corporation". Today, the company is known simply as "REC".

The parent company of REC is ChemChina, one of the largest chemical companies and state-owned by the People's Republic of China, which has held its stake in Elkem since 2015 through the China National Bluestar Group.[4] The purchase price was 490 million euros.[5]

Company history

The early days 1996 REC established in Norway
1997 First wafer washed by hand in summer 1997
Industrialization 1997-2010 Production of wafers, solar cells, and solar panels in Scandinavia (Norway and Sweden)
Growth phase 2010 Fully automated and integrated production of wafers, cells, and panels begins at factory in Singapore
2013 Split of REC Group from Renewable Energy Corporation ASA (now known as "REC Silicon ASA", no)
2015 REC acquired by Norway’s Elkem Group and is delisted from the Oslo Stock Exchange

Solar panels – past & present

Throughout its history, REC has introduced several solar panels to the global market for the utilities, commercial and industrial, and residential markets.

Operations

Location Country Type Production
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Tuas Singapore Solar panels 525 MW 675 MW 750 MW 820 MW 955 MW 1.2 GW 1.4 GW

Total numbers at end-2016[6]

  • 26 million panels manufactured
  • 6.3 GW produced

REC Group vs. REC Solar in the United States

REC Group (REC) is a leading manufacturer and brand of solar panels. REC panels are distributed and installed all over the world. REC’s sales operation is divided into four regions: EMEA (headquartered in Munich, Germany), APAC (headquartered in Singapore), the Americas (headquartered in San Mateo, California, USA), and Japan (headquartered in Tokyo). In some regions, REC is referred to as "REC Solar".

In the USA, a company named REC Solar, Inc. operates as an installer of solar energy systems for commercial, industrial, and utility-scale applications.[7] REC Group and REC Solar, Inc. are two separate companies with similar names in the same industry but have no direct relation to one another beyond REC Group being a supplier to REC Solar, Inc.

REC Solar, Inc. has used REC Group panels for many of its installations. In the USA, REC (the panel manufacturer) is known as "REC Americas".

REC Group vs. REC Silicon

The former Renewable Energy Corporation ASA had two divisions: REC Silicon and REC Solar. In October 2013, these were split into two entirely separate entities, each focusing on its own core business.[8]

For REC Silicon, this was polysilicon and silane gas for the solar and electronics industries with manufacturing facilities in Moses Lake, Washington and Butte, Montana, USA.[9][10]

REC Solar continues to manufacture wafers, solar cells, and solar panels at its fully automated integrated manufacturing facility in Singapore, plus EPC services and solutions in select markets.[11]

Both companies continued to be headquartered in Norway (with different management, separate organization setup, operations, etc.), and both were listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange; REC Silicon kept the ticker symbol "REC" and REC Solar was spun off and newly listed with the ticker symbol "RECSOL" in 2013. REC Solar was de-listed from the Oslo Stock Exchange shortly after being acquired in 2015 by the Elkem Group in Norway.[12]

As part of the split, REC Solar maintained the "REC Group" name, logo, and all other brand elements.

Today, REC Group and REC Silicon have no direct relation other than REC Silicon being a supplier to REC Group.

Awards & achievements

2016

  • #1 most-installed brand of panels in Germany[13]
  • #1 most-installed brand of panels for California homes (at end-Q3)[14][15]
  • #1 most-installed brand of panels for Colorado homes[16]

2015

  • #1 most-installed brand of panels for California homes (largest residential market in the USA)[17]
  • #2 most-installed brand of panels for homes nationwide in the USA[18]
  • Intersolar Award (Photovoltaics)[19][20]

Noteworthy[citation needed] installations

USA

257 MW – Tranquility (Fresno County, CA)

14.53 MW – Anahola Solar Array (Kaua’i, HI)

4.5 MW – Veteran’s Hospital (Tucson, AZ)

3.2 MW – Rockville Solar II (Indianapolis, IN)

2.02 MW – MLS team Real Salt Lake’s Rio Tinto Stadium (Sandy, UT)

EMEA

37.3 MW – Parley Solar Park (Bournemouth, UK)

28 MW – Giebelstadt Power Plant (Giebelstadt, Germany)

24 MW – Phenix Power Plant (Canino, Italy)

2.3 MW – Audi A1 Production Plant (Brussels, Belgium)

10 MW – Izvoru Photovoltaic Park (Giurgiu Country Romania)

921 kW - Heineken Wieckse Witte brewery (Den Bosch, Netherlands)

635 kW – Dubai International Airport (Dubai, UAE)

APAC

72 MW – Solarco (Suphanburi, Thailand)

5.8 MW – BMD Solar PV Power Plant (Gajner, Bikaner, Rajasthan, India)

2.2 MW – Tiger beer brewery (Singapore)

1.7 MW – Tomakomai Rinku Kashiwabara Power Plant (Tomakomai city, Hokkaido, Japan)

707 kW – National Stadium at Singapore Sports Hub (Singapore)

479 kW – IKEA Sendai (Sendai city, Miyagi prefecture, Japan)

402 kW – NextDC M1 Data Center (Port Melbourne, Australia)

See also

References

  1. ^ "Product quality beyond expectations". REC Group. 2015-07-24. Retrieved 2017-06-26.
  2. ^ "FACT SHEET: REC - THE FACTS (Key facts on REC's industry leadership in product quality, innovation, bankability, and product power)" (PDF).
  3. ^ "Company history". REC Group. 2015-07-30. Retrieved 2017-06-26.
  4. ^ Eco-Business. "REC Solar to combine with Elkem after US$640m Chinese buyout". Eco-Business. Retrieved 2020-05-17. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  5. ^ "Rec Solar: Aktionäre nicken Verkauf an Chinesen ab". www.solarbranche.de. Retrieved 2020-05-17.
  6. ^ "Bankability you can take to the bank". REC Group. 2015-07-24. Retrieved 2017-06-26.
  7. ^ "REC Solar - We Design, Build, Operate and Maintain Solar Systems". recsolar.com. Retrieved 2017-06-26.
  8. ^ Kingdom, Elsevier Ltd, The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford, OX5 1GB, United. "REC separates solar and silicon businesses - Renewable Energy Focus". www.renewableenergyfocus.com. Retrieved 2017-06-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ "IN DEPTH: Behind the REC split". Recharge | Renewable energy news and articles. 2014-01-07. Retrieved 2017-06-26.
  10. ^ Read, Richard (May 30, 2019). "These solar workers will lose their jobs if Trump doesn't get a China deal". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  11. ^ "REC plans to split company". PV Tech. Retrieved 2017-06-26.
  12. ^ "REC to join forces with Norway-based Elkem". REC Group. 2015-11-26. Retrieved 2017-06-26.
  13. ^ "European solar panel manufacturer REC presents its innovations at Intersolar Europe 2017 – Booth A2.380". REC Group. 2017-05-30. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  14. ^ "GTM Research Q1 2017 US PV Leaderboard".
  15. ^ "REC Group ranked #1 most popular brand of solar panels for homes in California and #2 nationwide". REC Group. 2017-01-26. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  16. ^ "GTM Research Q1 2017 US PV Leaderboard".
  17. ^ "GTM Research Q1 2016 US PV Leaderboard".
  18. ^ [GTM Research Q1 2016 US PV Leaderboard "GTM Research Q1 2016 US PV Leaderboard"]. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  19. ^ Global, Intersolar. "Photovoltaics Category - Intersolar Global". www.intersolarglobal.com. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  20. ^ "REC receives prestigious Intersolar Award 2015 for its new REC TwinPeak panels". REC Group. 2015-11-27. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Renewable_Energy_Corporation&oldid=957157013"