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Alternative energy (or renewable energy) is a new manufacturing industry paradigm that is in its infancy. However, the discussion is not new, and it looks as if the United States has positioned itself to be behind history on what can be a very promising industry for a stumbling economy. After the oil shortages in the 70′s, government officials began discussing energy policy as a matter of national security, but this misses the point of a globally competitive economic world. It was too early then to begin thinking that China could out-invest the United States in order to produce an alternative energy manufacturing industry. Yet, now we must come to terms that the free market ideology is disallowing America from utilizing tried and true techniques of infant industry construction as laid out by Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury of the United States. This article will attempt to show that what is needed now and what will aid in rebuilding the economy, is a change in paradigm that constructs energy companies under regulatory principles so that America will remain competitive in a rapidly changing economic climate.

Let us begin with the thought process of Alexander Hamilton in order to frame the argument of building a new industry within the United States correctly in order to compete on the global market. The gist of the argument is that in order for new industries to start up losses have to be guaranteed by the government in order for industry, and at the time the merchant class, to take the risk of investing to be competitive. Governments are not businesses and have properties more like non-profit organizations. They have the ability to hold and maintain debt even above yearly revenue or GDP in order to stimulate economic activity. Hamilton called this the infant industry argument, and it was due to the fact that if America wanted to compete it had to be able to safeguard the industries it thought would be best positioned against other countries who were enacting similar policies. The free trade argument against this is to an extent quite ridiculous, because what person would not want their initial investments guaranteed. And also this does not mean supporting bail-outs of large banking institutions who are not a new industry, but only for infant industries. Nor does it mean remaining with centralized power plants that lose 6.5-7.5% of energy due to long distance transmission. Those things would be fallacious to the argument. What it means is that the government has a duty to utilize tax revenue in order to secure American economic competitiveness and not, to use the words of Ha-Joon Chang, "kicking away the ladder", at such a critical economic moment in American history.

So, in America at the moment according to the Renewable Energy Status Report, in 2010 10.9% of domestic primary energy production was renewable with a 5.6% increase from 2009, which shows growth and also a demand in the market. As well, pointed out by Michael Heiman and Barry Solomon, "renewable energy is typically more labor-intensive per dollar invested in the construction phase and cheaper to operate." Further along they also show that there exists a difference between saying and doing, where 40 percent say they would pay more for Green Energy and only 1 percent actually do. This brings us back to the argument of being willing to take a loss at the outset, having a cheaper price in order to produce clients until the price can come down because of the aggregate demand. The problem has been in states who have enacted market reform instant of infant industry creation policies to produce this change, such as New Jersey, did not move towards renewable energy and the market reform only raised the rates on clients. So, obviously business is not willing to take the risk and therefore government regulation, investment, and policy is needed in order to make these risky jumps onto new frontiers.

This had led to something quite astounding and should be ridiculous to every American, that China now leads the world in installation of wind turbines and solar thermal systems. With a $211 billion investment in 2010 for renewable energy, it is on the rise and should not be discounted to have conversations about drilling in the Gulf of Mexico or whether or not the EPA should remain. There is a reason T Boone Pickens is investing heavily in wind farms, and another reason why they aren't going to Texas, poor State and Federal Government policy. Companies do not do externalities or infrastructure, and when they do it is with government support and money, so without the transmission lines, Pickens sent his turbines to Canada. The overemphasis on tax cuts as the only way to spurn private business has become a mantra that is corrosive and harming American capabilities to deal properly with the economic crisis and get people back to work. As stated before, renewable energy is labor intensive and we have an unemployment rate at 16-17% if we include discouraged and part time workers. That's talking jobs.

To end this out, what we have in America is a political discourse and ideology that disallows proper economic domestic policy. Alternative energy is a boom industry that needs government stimulus in order to cover the initial losses that would be incurred by private industry. All the ingredients exist to utilize this industry to bring back manufacturing to America, a sector that has been rapidly losing jobs. In 2007 prior to the recession 217,000 manufacturing jobs were lost, a trend that is continued with more outsourcing every year. This isn't because labor was priced out of the market, it is because high-technology has no domestic economic policy to support large-scale investment and construction. The argument is against both sides of the aisle in congress and the executive who have lacked the political will against the onslaught of propaganda. Alternative energy will not kill the petroleum industry, as long you have heard of something called plastic, nor will it be some socialist evil over-centralizing, but it will allow America to rebuild an economy that hangs on the edge of a cliff.

Wind turbines are getting really big - some with blades as long as a football field - and more powerful, often generating 50 times more electricity than the first generation of wind power machines built in the 1980s.

But scientists are also studying how to harness the wind in different ways that could help allay concerns that today's turbines are unattractive, noisy and sometimes even dangerous.

Already in the works: Turbines that float and turbines that fly. Turbines without blades and turbines with blades fat enough to fit a double-decker bus inside.

They won't just be on hillsides either. Some will be in the ocean, while others will be on rooftops and light poles. A few will even be in the sky.

One design was inspired by the humble bumblebee.

Sabri Sansoy, an MIT graduate and former rocket engineer, has built a 19-foot-tall prototype whose blades, rather than spin in a circle, move in a figure-eight motion like the insect's wings. Sansoy hopes the design will generate more electricity than turbines of similar size.

"I've been called everything from brilliant to a nincompoop over this," said Sansoy, whose Marina del Rey, Calif., company Green Wavelength is looking to commercialize the technology.

But "there's a lot of people interested in this kind of thing, taking energy out of the wind," he said.

That's because there's a lot of money being poured into finding ways to ease off coal-based electricity. Last year, the Department of Energy set aside a record $79 million for its wind program budget - nearly $20 million more than its previous top allotment in 1980.

General Electric Co., which makes half of the turbines in the U.S., has invested more than $1.5 billion developing renewable energy technology since entering the wind business in 2002. Google Inc., the Internet search giant, and its philanthropic arm have plunged millions of dollars into new wind concepts.

At the moment, most turbines are designed to look like streamlined windmills: Blades connected to a rotor, usually mounted high on a tower to capture stronger gusts, spin like propellers in the wind. The rotor helps turn a shaft connected to a generator, which produces electricity.

But companies are coming up with innovative variations.

An Alameda, Calif., company, Makani Power Inc., is developing a kite-like contraption that generates electricity as it whips in circles in the wind. Another firm, Magenn Power Inc., has built a giant spinning blimp with generators affixed to each end. It somewhat resembles a giant inflatable hamster wheel.

Some machines could double as art installations. Poway, Calif.-based Helix Wind Corp.'s turbine looks like a spiral staircase wrapped in a white sheet. Another model, from WindTronics, evokes a large bicycle wheel - or Sauron's eye from "The Lord of the Rings."

Although many current installations are limited to sites with just the right mix of topography and wind speed, designers are starting to create turbines that can adapt to a wide range of terrains.

One Italian proposal involves wind turbines being built between the pillars of a bridge. Last month, turbine manufacturer Vestas said it adapted military stealth technology that can keep turbines from interfering with airport and army radar systems, potentially opening new sites.

The popularity of rooftop solar panels has sparked a surge of smaller wind turbines that can sit atop buildings. Municipalities around the country are gradually updating zoning rules to allow for the more compact models. Technology like the not-quite-6-foot-tall Eddy from Urban Green Energy Inc. has popped up at trade shows in China and the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Turbines could also end up in the oceans as developers try to tap powerful sea breezes. Researchers say those machines could generate many times more power than land-based ones.

In March, Vestas announced a 7-megawatt offshore turbine that will be more than 600 feet tall from the blade tip to the bottom of the tower. The blades will sweep in a circle larger than the London Eye ferris wheel.

The monstrous machines, to be made mostly with recyclable materials, will be mass produced by 2015, Vestas said.

One turbine in Germany spans nearly 700 feet from the bottom of the tower to the blade tip. Other developers say that land-based turbines with 300-foot blades may be ready within a decade.

But some said scaling up isn't always the way to go.

"The wind industry's central tenet now is that bigger is better," said John O. Dabiri, an aeronautics professor who runs Caltech's Center for Bioinspired Engineering. "It certainly goes against conventional wisdom, but we're taking the opposite perspective."

On top of being difficult to design and costly to build, large turbines must sometimes be erected a mile apart to ensure good wind flow, he said. They also tend to spark complaints from residents who say they are noisy eyesores and slaughterhouses for birds and bats.

Dabiri is running a pilot project north of Los Angeles that involves 24 smaller turbines, which he thinks could significantly cut back the amount of space and financing needed for wind farms. He tests the machines, which look like upright eggbeater's, in cosy configurations inspired by the fluid dynamics of schools of fish.

Other designers are also taking cues from plants and animals - a tactic known as biomimicry.

To keep ice off turbine blades, researchers at GE are exploring how water collects on lotus leaves. Toronto-based WhalePower Corp. is testing blades modelled after humpback whales' bumpy flippers, which allow the massive animals to make tight turns. Other studies are based on dragonflies and hawks.

But some of the newfangled models may not go far, said Nancy Rader, executive director of the California Wind Energy Association. The technology with the most longevity probably will be variations of current turbines, she said.

"In 20 years, I think it's going to be more of the same," she said.

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/technology/Wind+turbines+growing+taller+more+powerful/5166938/story.html#ixzz1TLUbMNMJ

AllEarth Renewables, Inc. has designed and installed the largest distributed solar tracker farm in North America. Located in South Burlington, Vt., the 2.2-megawatt PV system includes 382 AllSun Tracker Series 24 GPS-oriented, dual-axis trackers and 382 SMA Sunny Boy 6000-US inverters. The estimated 2.91 million annual kWh of power generated by the installation will be sold to Vermont's Sustainably Priced Energy Development (SPEED) Program.

"The decentralized inverter concept is ideal for many commercial and utility-scale PV systems," said Jurgen Krehnke, president and general manager of SMA America. "The combination of AllSun Trackers and Sunny Boy inverters in this application will ensure that the solar farm is consistently performing at the highest level."

The project will be officially commissioned using an iPhone, highlighting the trackers’ wireless communication and GPS/dual-axis tracking, today. Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin (D) and Lt. Gov. Phil Scott (R) are expected to attend the on-site commissioning ceremony.

AllEarth Renewables chose a decentralized inverter configuration for this 25-acre solar farm in order to achieve the greatest power generation from the trackers while allowing the company to use its AllSun Tracker Series 24 model without a system redesign. Through this innovative application, each inverter adjusts to the highest possible power output and efficiency of each tracker across the system. Utilizing distributed inverters helps prevent overall power losses that can arise when using a single centralized inverter, while also saving labor and DC wiring costs. Operation and maintenance expenditures are also expected to be reduced over the life of the system, increasing the overall value of the energy yield.

“The decentralized inverter concept is ideal for many commercial and utility-scale PV systems,” said Jurgen Krehnke, president and general manager of SMA America. “The combination of AllSun Trackers and Sunny Boy inverters in this application will ensure that the solar farm is consistently performing at the highest level.”

The UL-Certified Sunny Boy 6000-US inverter was selected for this project based on its proven durability, reliability and class-leading efficiencies of up to 97 percent. The device’s longevity is enhanced via SMA’s patented OptiCool™ active temperature-management system and rugged cast-aluminum, outdoor-rated enclosure. Automatic grid-voltage detection and an integrated DC disconnect switch simplify installation, ensuring safety while saving time. The Sunny Boy 6000-US also features galvanic isolation and can be used with all types of modules—crystalline as well as thin-film. Sunny Boy inverters include a 10-year factory warranty, with the ability to extend up to 20 years.

The AllSun Tracker is a dual-axis, grid-connected solar electric system that follows the sun from dawn to dusk, producing up to 45 percent more electricity than a fixed, roof-mounted PV system of the same size. AllEarth Renewables’ innovative pole-mounted trackers use GPS technology and wireless communications to enhance their performance beyond traditional tracking systems.

“Whether in backyard homes or a utility-scale project like this, our innovative technology produces more energy than fixed solar installations,” said David Blittersdorf, CEO and founder of AllEarth Renewables. “Distributed inverters allowed us to achieve the highest possible power output across the 25-acre farm using our proven dual-axis tracker design.”

The solar farm was created as part of Vermont’s Standard Offer program with the generated power being sold to the SPEED program. The SPEED program encourages the development of renewable energy resources in Vermont, as well as the purchase of renewable power by the state’s electric distribution utilities. The Standard Offer program, part of the Vermont Energy Act of 2009, was later enacted to encourage the development of SPEED resources using a variety of different renewable technologies. The Act established default prices for the standard offer for different technologies, calculated to allow developers of renewable power purchased through the SPEED program to recover their costs plus a return on their investment.

About SMA

The SMA Group, with sales of 1.9 billion euros in 2010, is the world market leader for solar inverters, a component that lies at the heart of every solar power system. Its headquarters is situated in Niestetal near Kassel and it also has 17 foreign subsidiaries situated on four continents. In 2010, the Corporate Group employed over 5,000 persons (including temporary staff). SMA produces a wide spectrum of inverter types, the optimal inverter for each type of solar module used and offers all the power classes required for solar power systems. The product portfolio includes both inverters for grid-connected solar power systems and stand-alone systems. Since 2008, the parent company SMA Solar Technology AG has been listed in the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Securities Exchange (S92) and in the TecDAX. Over the past few years, SMA has received several awards for its outstanding performance as an employer and lately reached first place in the federal “Great Place to Work” competition.

The Consumer Claims Tribunal has awarded Kenneth Ciangura €700 following a claim that a solar water heater purchased from AR Tech Ltd was defective.

In 2006, Mr Ciangura bought the homemade solar water heater with a five-year guarantee. But after three and a half years, it started leaking. AR Tech counter-claimed the damage was because the anode was not changed every year, as it should be.

However the tribunal noted that the company had never informed Mr Ciangura about this.

In another case, Lilian, Frank and Bernice Vassallo were awarded €375 from Mondial Travel when their complaint was upheld by the tribunal.

They claimed that a holiday in the Tyrolean Alps was ruined because the hotel was changed from Westendorf to Chiemsee and, as a result, they spent more time on the coach than visiting. They had to miss going round Berchtesgaden and the party ended having to travel an extra three hours on the coach.

In a third case, Arthur Abela was awarded €200 by the tribunal from International Sales Direct after the company failed to install an air-conditioning unit Mr Abela had ordered and refused to give him back the €200 deposit he had paid.

Gordon Tanti was awarded €300 by the tribunal from Kargo House after an aluminium door he ordered did not arrive because the foreign company that manufactured it had stopped that particular line of production. Mr Tanti did not accept the Maltese company’s offer to alter an imported door to his specifications.

The province didn't fully consider the work municipalities have done to promote such things as tourism while it was developing the Green Energy Act, say some opponents of large-scale wind turbine developments.

It's a miscalculation the Liberal government at Queen's Park will come to regret, suggests former Meaford councillor Cynthia Lemon.

"When they developed the Green Energy Act, they didn't look at what municipalities were doing in terms of their own economic development, which includes tourism," she said. "The municipality of Meaford has invested a great deal of time and effort into studying what would work. . . to broaden our tax base, reduce taxes for local citizens and create jobs. This has the potential to completely undermine what we were doing. "I think the province didn't think very clearly or thoughtfully about the negative impact on municipalities, and they're going to have to address that."

The Act streamlines the approvals process for wind-energy projects by laying out a series of steps that must be completed, including public information sessions and preliminary project viability tests.

Critics complain the Act side-l ines municipalities in the approvals process.

Lemon introduced a motion at Meaford council about a year ago calling for a moratorium on new wind farms until further studies into health problems some claim are linked to the developments are done. Her motion failed, but a revised motion put forward by Lemon and Coun. Harley Greenfield was later adopted.

"As we escalated towards the municipal election, things started to heat up again. I think as it became apparent that it was more of a political issue than people thought, there was more engagement in what was happening."

Jim Brunow, a founder of Wind Concerns Meaford, hopes the new council will "work with us to hold a public meeting" to air local reaction to wind-energy developments, and will also consider the impact wind farms might have on local economic development.

He said a September 2009 study from Prince Edward County's economic development officer on the long-term economic impact of wind farms in that region resonates locally.

"There is a proposal there (Prince Edward County) for anywhere from 100 to 200 turbines. And in the report they say this could very well be the most important issue of the next 20 years for (the county) and its economy."

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The study, says Brunow, indicates the long-term economic upside was about $1 million to $2 million, whereas the economic downside was $2.5 million to $40 million in lost annual revenue from local business and from the municipal tax base.

"They concluded that owth was contingent upon quality-of-life attributes -- their tourism, their arts, their culture, their scenic values. I think that is something that is equally, if not more true, here."

With Meaford recently hiring its own economic development officer, Brunow says he'd like to see a similar study done for this region.

Lemon sees the issue from a political perspective, but also a community one. She lives near Silcote Corners, where International Power Canada plans a 26- turbine, 48.6-megawatt project. The company planned a 29-turbine, 52.2-megawatt development, but it was scaled back.

Lemon's family has 70 acres of land "right smack in the middle" of the proposed wind farm.

"They're all going to be very visible. We're a concession over from the second concession where Silcote is, so we're going to see those turbines from our back veranda and to the north."

No one, she says, came knocking on their door asking if they'd be interested in signing up for some turbines of their own, due, most likely she says, to her vocal opposition to them.

Property owners who agree to have turbines on their land for a standard 20-year period are paid.

"I think there is a concern that farming is difficult, and yes this provides some income, but is that immediate income worth the long-term impact on the community?"

While proponents of wind energy say there is no documented evidence linking wind turbines to health problems, Lemon contends "there has to be some form of impact," even if it's caused by the stress of living near something you simply don't want around.

"There are more and more studies that indicate that stress alone has a huge impact on health."

The former councillor wonders why the province doesn't turn to an existing source of renewable energy, instead of pursuing a strategy that, she says, creates community tension.

"I'm not exactly sure why we would plop down something that is so divisive when you have a nuclear facility relatively close to us that has huge potential for long-term betterment of communities in terms of job creation and power. Why are we creating community risk, health risk, and financial risk (through decreased property values) for people when Bruce Power is right next door?"

Opposition to wind farms is as much emotional as it is intellectual, said Lemon. That could partially account for the determined resistance to them.

"It changes the whole dynamic of where we live and who you are when you plunk these honking big things down. And that alone is distressing."

The actual process of signing up leases creates its own tensions, as it pits neighbour against neighbour -- those who want turbines on their land and who will benefit financially against those who don't, and won't, said Brunow.

"People who are approached to sign leases, if they do get involved, are asked to sign confid e nt i a l i t y agreements. They can't tell their best friend or their neighbour, and it creates a real division in the community."

Often the first a community hears of a potential wind farm is when the public notification process required by the province begins, or when news circulates that landowners are being approached to sign leases, he says.

"There are salespeople all over Ontario signing people up to leases. None of these show up. There are many more projects in the pipeline, in the early stages that we aren't aware of, because there is a veil of secrecy around it."

He contends that as more people react to rising hydro rates, the government's renewable- energy strategy could become an election issue.

"When you take a look at the fact they are paying as much as 80 cents a kilowatt-hour for renewable energy, and I've read that this year our average (hydro) cost is closer to four cents, you can really see where these energy prices are going."

Producers of solar energy were originally offered contracts of 80.2 cents a kilowatt-hour. The government later reduced the rate for most producers to 58.8 cents a kilowatt-hour, but those who signed contracts for the higher rate will have them honoured. Wind-energy producers are guaranteed a rate of 13.5 cents a kilowatt-hour.

"I think as people realize just how expensive this is . . . it will be a big election issue."

In reaction to the growing global solar industry, cadmium telluride thin-film manufacturer Abound Solar announced today that it has big plans to scale up its manufacturing facilities in the U.S. The company has closed a $400 million Department of Energy loan guarantee and $110 million equity investment and will use the funds to expand its existing manufacturing line in Colorado and build a new larger facility in Tipton, Indiana.

Abound Solar has an interesting history, having grown out of the Collaboratory, a collaboration of public and private efforts that brought together the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), the Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State University (CSU) and the University of Colorado, Boulder. RenewableEnergyWorld.com profiled the company and the R&D partnerships back in 2008, when it was known as AVA solar.

After the company finishes tripling its 65-MW production line in Colorado, it will move on to the construction of a 640-MW line in Tipton, Indiana. The company announced that is has leased a 781,750 square foot abandoned transmission manufacturing facility in the region. Getrag Transmission, the former occupier of the facility declared bankruptcy in 2009, leaving the facility empty. Abound’s leasing of the space is further evidence of solar companies resurrecting former auto parts plants, as Jennifer Kho reported in Oct. 2009.

The reason for Abound Solar’s big push to scale up manufacturing is, of course, economies of scale. The company expects to build and ship 30 MW of modules this year, according to Director of Marketing Mark Chen. But the global market is growing quickly and Abound wants to use its contracts with German companies juwi and Wirsol to continue to tap into that growth. Chen said that more than 90% of the company’s modules are exported to key markets like Germany, Italy and France. Yesterday, Ucilia Wang reported that the U.S. is a net exporter of solar energy equipment.

Cost is key to success in the current market, he said. The more the company can drive down its cost, the better positioned it will be to gain marketshare. First Solar the largest solar module manufacturer in the world also uses cadmium telluride thin-film technology and has the lowest manufacturing costs. “We have the technology to meet if not beat First Solar on manufacturing cost if we can get to scale and that’s what this loan guarantee and equity investment allows us to do,” Chen said.

The company said the new manufacturing facility, which is slated to begin construction in 2012, will employ about 1000 people.

STATE-OWNED Macquarie Generation will double the size of the solar array alongside its Liddell power station in the Hunter Valley, making it the largest solar thermal power project in the southern hemisphere.

An 18,000 square-metre field of mirrors with generating capacity of 9MW - enough to power 1000 homes - will concentrate the sun's energy to generate steam, acting as a ''solar boiler'' and saving fuel at the coal-fired power station.

The solar field will save about 5000 tonnes of greenhouse gasses a year - a tiny fraction of Liddell's emissions of about 9 million tonnes a year. (Macquarie is the country's largest emitter, at about 25 million tonnes in 2008-09.)

Advertisement: Story continues below The solar project will cost approximately $10 million, largely funded by a $9.25 million grant from the NSW government, which means greenhouse gas savings could cost as much as $2000 a tonne.

The contractor Novatec BioSol, a subsidiary of Transfield Holdings, will begin construction next year and hopes to finish construction by 2012. Components will be made in the Hunter Valley, creating up to 35 jobs.

Transfield is proposing to use Novatec's technology to improve efficiency at the Collinsville coal-fired power station in Queensland as part of its shortlisted bid for funding under the federal government's $1.5 billion Solar Flagships process. This aims to part-fund development of two solar power stations of about 150MW capacity each - one solar thermal and one solar photovoltaic.

Final round bids closed yesterday and the winners will be announced in the middle of next year.

Colorado-based Abound Solar— the makers of cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film solar modules designed for use in large solar power installations, versus residential or small commercial systems— raised a $110 million equity round, and secured a $400 million loan guarantee from the United States Department of Energy the company announced today.

Federal and equity financing of this magnitude signals domestic support of a technology that, in the solar manufacturing industry, is viewed as having a lower cost structure than others, and therefore a potential advantage in the market. Lux Research analysts predict that pricing for CdTe thin-film solar panels will fall from $1.81 per watt in 2009 to $0.98 per watt by 2015, with cost of goods falling from $0.80 per watt in 2009 to $0.54 per watt by 2015.

Abound Solar’s existing investors Invus Group, Bohemian Companies, DCM and Technology Partners participated in the new, $110 million equity round, joined by new investors BP Alternative Energy Ventures and West Hill Companies. The company has raised approximately $260 million in equity since starting up in 2007.

One of Abound Solar’s objectives is to produce solar modules that reduce the cost of generating solar electricity within large-scale, grid-connected utility and commercial applications.

According to a company statement:

“The debt and equity financings will enable Abound Solar to expand manufacturing capacity at both its existing facility in Colorado and later at a second site in Indiana, which when completed will create 1,200 new manufacturing jobs…When both plants are complete, Abound Solar will be able to produce more than 840 megawatts of solar modules annually. The company has already begun construction of a second manufacturing line at its Longmont, Colorado facility to increase production rates in 2011.”

A report from GTM Research (The U.S. Utility PV Market: Demand…and Project Economics Through 2015) predicts that: U.S. utilities will increase their investments in solar power generation each year through 2015 to meet states’ demands for solar energy; and installations of solar projects for utility customers could reach about 3,000 megawatts annually, worth some $8 billion over the same period.

Abound Solar (formerly AVA Solar) faces multiple contenders for a piece of this market, including U.S. companies like NASDAQ-traded First Solar (FSLR) which also makes CdTe thin-film solar panels, and SunPower Corp. (SPWRB) which makes crystalline solar panels that are appropriate for use in utility-scale projects and are typically more “power dense,” or efficient than thin-film.

International solar manufacturers like Solar Frontier in Japan, Schott Solar and Sunfilm in Germany, or ENN Solar in China, are also vying to sell their technology to the same type of large-scale customers.