Solar Energy Coming of Age (RedHerring.com)

[eppur_se_muova]

Vertical integration is next phase for manufacturers and operators.
May 3, 2007

By Andrea Quong

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Flush with capital and fattened up on government subsidies, sun power companies are positioning themselves to grab market share in high-demand areas of the globe, notably Spain, South Korea, Greece, Italy, and California.

The race to corner the market is spurring some companies to test unusual business strategies. Just last week, Hayward, California-based OptiSolar’s Canadian unit announced plans to build the largest complex of solar power stations in North America in southern Ontario.

But what has piqued analysts’ interest in the 40-megawatt project isn’t its scale or ambition—it’s OptiSolar’s unconventional move to both build and operate the solar farm, which can deliver enough electricity to light up 6,000 homes.

“It’s very unusual” to do both, said Jenny Chase, senior analyst for solar at London-based research firm New Energy Finance. “I don’t know of any company that’s vertically integrated from manufacturing to project development.”
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SunPower said it hoped over the next five years to cut by half the cost to produce solar energy on its farms. The company will have a chance to try out its lower-cost system at a new solar farm it’s developing on Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. When it comes online in 2008, the site will be the largest solar power plant in the U.S.
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more: http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=22181&hed=Solar+Energy+Coming+of+Age

That's right, folks, solar power in Ontario, at about the same latitude as Detroit.