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REC Solar

REC Solar And Green Charge Create Largest Energy Storage Facility In Sonoma County

by Steve Hanley November 15, 2016

Energy storage is making it possible for commercial establishments to lower their total utility bills while having the ability to continue operating during a power outage. REC Solar and Green Charge have partnered to create a 1 megawatt solar and energy storage system for SOMO Village in Rohnert Park, Calif. The combined solar-plus-storage system is expected to deliver more than $160,000 savings to SOMO Village in the first year and more than $1.8 million in savings during the first 10 years of operation.

SOMO Village solar and energy storage system

SOMO Village is a 600,000 square foot mixed use development. All together, about 1,000 people are employed by the fifty businesses located inside the Village. The property uses almost six megawatts of electricity annually. Its existing array of rooftop solar panels have recently been expanded to a total of 16,000 panels, making it the largest solar plus storage facility in Sonoma County.

“SOMO Village is a leader in renewable energy adoption,” says Alan Russo, senior vice president of sales and marketing at REC Solar. “We are proud to be their energy partner and to work alongside the Green Charge team to maximize the impact of their solar investment.”

REC focuses exclusively on commercial installations and is and backed by Duke Energy. It has a portfolio of 550 successful solar projects over the past 19 years. Its business model specializes in systems that immediately begin paying dividends through reduced energy costs.

In business since 2009, Green Charge is backed by ENGIE, the largest independent power producer in the world. With its team of top energy storage industry experts, it shows its customers how to combine energy storage and renewables easily and economically.

With solar-plus-storage, businesses can consume all the solar power they produce rather than feeding it back into the grid. That helps to reduce or eliminate electricity usage during periods of high demand when utility charges are the highest.

November 15, 2016 0 comment

Sunrun Growth Continues Past 100,000 Customer, Adds 7 New Warehouses

by Kyle Field November 10, 2015

written by Kyle Field

100,000th Customer

In a series of recent updates, Sunrun announced more evidence that it is expanding — and rapidly. In a press release and corresponding blog post for its customers, Sunrun excitedly shared that it hit a milestone 100,000 residential installations. I’m excited to be a part of its customer base that is “Creating a Planet run by the Sun” via my solar installation, which was done by Sunrun acquisition REC Solar (the installer, not the PV panel maker), and I have enjoyed having their system operate flawlessly since installation in 2011. Check out the video announcing the great news embedded at the bottom of this post.

When Sunrun first started back in 2007, panel prices were much higher, and it has built its customer base and company on hard work and direct sales. From its blog post:

“When Ed Fenster and I founded Sunrun in 2007 many told us Sunrun wouldn’t last—that investing in solar technology and pioneering solar-as-a-service was way too risky. We knew Sunrun’s success wouldn’t happen overnight—that it would take patience and hard work to change minds. In the early days of Sunrun, I sold solar directly to homeowners at county fairs and farmers markets. Today, we have nearly 3,000 employees and over 60 Sunrun partners advancing home solar adoption nationwide. Our mission of creating a planet run by the sun gets closer every day.”

Supply Chain Expansion

Supporting its growth on into the future, Sunrun is also expanding its supply chain, announcing that it is adding 7 new warehouses in a very short 4-week period. I’m sure it feels shorter for them as I recently supported a major supply chain upgrade and it requires close coordination across many functions — especially on a timeline like this. Specifically, Sunrun is adding warehouses in Baltimore, MD; Bakersfield, CA; Marlton, NJ; Hartford, CT; Somerset and Stockton, CA… and one more yet to be announced.

What’s fun about the way Sunrun is upgrading is that it is blogging the experience of what it is calling its “Build Bonanza.” It’s a great way to keep current customers and future customers engaged in the work they’re doing and to be a part of SunRun’s exciting growth.

Image and Video Credit: SunRun

November 10, 2015 0 comment

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REC Solar Boosts Shipments In Q3 Reaching Sales Record

by Joshua S Hill November 9, 2015

written by Joshua S Hill

Integrated PV module manufacturer REC Solar has released its third quarter earnings, revealing a boost in shipments and sales.

REC Solar is Europe’s largest brand of solar panels, having produced more than 15 million panels by the end of 2014. Based out of Norway, the company revealed its third quarter financial earnings report this past week. The company saw an all time high quarterly revenue figure of $234 million, up 39% compared to just a quarter earlier. Shipments were up, jumping 100 MW to 361 MW, with module sales to the US of 207 MW, accounting for nearly 60% of the company’s total Q3’15 sales.

As can be seen, however, the geographic split across the year is much more evenly spread, and dominated substantially by China.

The company is also expecting its annual global module sales to reach around 59 GW by the end of 2015, and jump another 10% by the end of 2016 to 65%, before plateauing somewhat afterwards.

“We are extremely proud on this record quarter, demonstrating our sustainable and profitable growth, quarter after quarter,” said Steve O’Neil, CEO at REC Solar.

“Continuously declining PV system costs are one of several key drivers for the industry. We are also expecting a strong agreement at the UN Climate Change conference, reflecting the ambitious targets on emissions and renewable energies set by around 150 countries worldwide in advance. This should further increase solar’s momentum, which we will continue to leverage. Besides expanding our module capacity to 1.7 GW by end of 2016, we are exploring new business models and penetrating new emerging markets.”

REC Solar is looking towards strengthening its footprint in the Middle East, as well as opening up new regions in Africa.

November 9, 2015 0 comment

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Top Solar Module Manufacturers of 2013

by James Ayre May 14, 2014

written by James Ayre

The top 15 solar PV module manufacturers of 2013 have been revealed thanks to a new report from the market research firm IHS.

As many would no doubt guess, the list is dominated — yet again — by firms based in China. But, interestingly, the Japanese firms Sharp and Kyocera saw a bit of a resurgence — up a fair bit from previous years. Japan’s strong feed-in tariffs for solar and Japanese preference for Japan-made products was clearly part of this upswing.

Some other things to note — Yingli Green Energy (aka Yingli Solar) once again took the top spot; 7 out of the top 10 companies were based in China; and the total Chinese share of the market fell 1% to 58% — down from a 59% market share in 2012.

“The year 2013 marked the turnaround of global PV markets and the recovery of leading players in the photovoltaic industry,” stated Jessica Jin, an analyst for solar supply chains at IHS. “Chinese and Japanese PV module suppliers benefited from the surge in demand in their domestic markets, with China in particular accounting for more than a quarter of global installations in 2013 and becoming the leading region in the process.”

IHS provides more:

The Chinese as a group continued to be the star players of the global PV market, but there were also signs pointing to slower growth. While they continue to lead by far, 2013 also marks the second time their overall market share has not risen significantly. Chinese suppliers held a 57% share in 2011, 59% in 2012 and 58% last year.

European companies also maintained stable share in 2013 at 13% — nearly unchanged from 2011 and 2012. In contrast, the Japanese module industry enjoyed an increase to 15%, up from 12% in 2011. Meanwhile, US suppliers fell behind as their portion dropped to 9%, down from 13% in 2011.

While Sharp and Kyocera saw the most substantial rises, a third Japanese firm managed to rank in the top 15 as well, CIS thin-film producer Solar Frontier. Solar Frontier saw shipment growth of more than 60% in 2013.

The IHS report also noted that total global solar PV shipments hit 38.7 GW in 2013 — roughly a 24% increase over the previous year. Interestingly, much of the growth appeared to be from the top players — showing clearly the consolidation of the industry. The top 15 manufacturers held a 59% market share in 2013, up from 51% in 2012.

With regard to the continued consolidation of the solar PV manufacturing industry, that’s something that’s likely going to continue for some time — with the dropping of state-support, in many cases, being one of the main drivers.

That’s exactly what’s happening right now in China, with a recent order by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology doing a lot to “clean up” the industry — likely finishing off over 75% of the country’s solar panel and related component manufacturers.

Expect to see more of that in the near-future. And just note, this isn’t bad — it’s a natural part of a maturing industry.

May 14, 2014 0 comment