Solar trend catches fire
"The solar suppliers are interested in selling more of their product, we're obviously interested in installing more and we've got financiers who want to make a stable cash flow off of it," he says, "so between the three of us, we're running models to find out where it makes the most sense."
GM's Fontana, Calif., warehouse solar installation, completed through a partnership with Constellation Energy, is just one example of a hot trend that features manufacturers partnering with a growing number of companies that provide turnkey solar installations and power purchase agreements (PPAs).
This trend features high-profile manufacturers from PepsiCo Inc. to Estee Lauder Companies to Hewlett-Packard Co., which recently installed a large-scale solar power installation through a PPA with SunPower Corp., that features 5,000 solar panels atop its R&D manufacturing site in San Diego, Calif.
"Regardless of what they may believe about global warming, CEOs want to be green because their supply chain and customers want them to, but they don't want to waste money," says Tom Hunton, president of American Capital Energy. "With solar, not only can they be green, but they can have solid ROI, with an average three- to five-year payback on many projects."
As hot as it is, solar is just one face of a green energy explosion, as other manufacturers choose on-site wind turbines (including rooftop "architectural wind" installations) and co-generation, while still others leverage nearby landfills and turn manufacturing byproducts into power.
With renewable energy mandates in the works worldwide, competition among green energy providers is likely to continue to heat up. And as costs fall, manufacturers squeezed between rising energy costs and carbon risk should see expanded access to increasingly viable renewable alternatives.
Related News
Aging U.S. power grid threatens progress on renewables, EVs
WASHINGTON - After decades of struggle, the U.S. clean-energy business is booming, with soaring electric-car sales and fast growth in wind and solar power. That’s raising hopes for the fight against climate change.
All this progress, however, could be derailed without a massive overhaul of America’s antiquated electric infrastructure – a task some industry experts say requires more than $2 trillion. The current network of transmission wires, substations and transformers is decaying with age and underinvestment, a condition highlighted by catastrophic failures during increasingly frequent and severe weather events.
Power outages over the last six years have more than doubled in number…
