Solar Industry Sees Partnerships As The Way to Go

Partnerships, Joint Ventures, and mergers/aquisitions are starting to become the norm in the solar industry.

Last year, Ausra, solar development startup with its own proprietary concentrated solar technology, inked a 177 MW power purchase agreement with PG&E.

First Solar, a large module manufacturer, announced the aquisition of Ted Turner's Turner Renewables, giving the manufacturer development ("integration") capacity.

And just this Thursday, Solar Semiconductor, a module manufacturer, announced a major partnership with IBC SOLAR AG, a solar integrator in Europe (click here for details)

Look for more M&A, JV, and partnership activity as the solar industry looks for ways to reduce cost, gain competitive edge, and deal with supply shortages in the face of skyrocketting demand.

(Note: The only wind turbine manufacturer with development capability in the U.S. is Clipper. It will be interesting to see if Clipper will be able to create a competitive advantage in this way).