Suniva Inc. a startup solar firm operating out of Atlanta’s technology incubator, that says it can squeeze more energy out of a single solar panel than any competitor currently operating, announced the construction of a $75-million manufacturing plant in Gwinnett’s Technology Park recently.
The plant – the first in the state – will employ about 100 to start, and have the capacity to produce enough solar cells to power 10,000 homes, according to Suniva CEO John Baumstark. In a few years, that capacity will triple.
The solar cell technology relies on the work of Georgia Tech professor Ajeet Rohatgi, director of the school’s University Center of Excellence for Photovoltaic Research and Education. It is Rohatgi’s innovation that will give Suniva an edge on cheaper manufacturing costs, which translates to more solar kilowatts per buck. Rohatgi is Suniva’s founder and CTO.
Both Gwinnett County and the state will contribute about $10 million in incentives, about 35 percent of that in the form of deferred state sales tax on manufacturing equipment. The other portion represents property tax revenue that would have been assessed by the county school board and the city of Norcross. The remainder represents a phased, five-year abatement on personal property taxes on equipment.
Because the technology is based on Rohatgi’s research performed at Georgia Tech, the university retains a minority interest in Suniva, as well as the rights to some royalties. Even so, Suniva expects to be profitable, because the cost of installed solar is two to four times that Americans pay for fossil-fuel based energy, and Suniva says it can reduce that disparity long before the federal government’s goal (parity by 2015) is reached.
Before that, they see profit in the fact that many Americans, faced with the reality of global warming, are willing to pay twice as much to cut emissions like carbon dioxide by installing clean, renewable solar energy.
Beyond that, Suniva executives also see opportunities in Spain, Germany and S. Korea, where government incentives make it profitable to sell excess solar energy back to the utility.
Both executives, Baumstark and Rohatgi, are surprised by the speed at which plans morphed into reality, including the company’s raising $50 million in a few short months. Looking ahead, though, Baumstark projects $100 million in revenues in 2009, and in the billions within a decade.
The projections don’t seem overly optimistic. On June 18, Suniva announced a four-year, $500-million agreement to supply Solon AG, one of Europe’s largest solar module manufacturers and a commercial-scale supplier to large solar-power plants.
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