Sunny Days Are Ahead for the Solar Industry

By Allison Bruce Ventura County Star

CAMARILLO, Calif. — Solar panels are easier to make these days, with solar cell production 200 times faster than 30 years ago.

The products also are a lot easier to sell.

Raju Yenamandra has seen the changes firsthand. He started working in the solar industry in the 1970s and is now sales manager for North America for SolarWorld Industries America, which is undergoing a $20 million expansion to triple the capacity solar module production in Camarillo.

The capacity is expected to grow from 35 megawatts to 100 megawatts a year by 2008. Production capacity of 100 megawatts equates to about 580,000 solar modules.

“Today, the industry is robust, vibrant and growing,” Yenamandra said.

SolarWorld is already the largest solar manufacturer by production volume in the United States. And its parent company, SolarWorld AG, is among the top three solar companies in the world.

Yenamandra said there has been a major change in the solar industry.

In the mid-1970s, solar cells were a product looking for a market. Solar technology came from the aerospace industry, and companies were trying to figure out how to market them.

“It took a great deal of effort to sell them and a greater effort to manufacture them one at a time,” Yenamandra said.

People were unfamiliar with solar cells and didn’t know how they could be used or how reliable they were, he said. Making a sale took a lot of education.

Yenamandra said each solar cell in a panel from the late 1970s was handmade. Workers had to take each cell, clean it and screen- print conductive materials on both sides.

It used to take from three to four minutes to make a solar cell, compared with today’s production line methods that churn out 50 cells per minute.

Many of these tasks are now automated, allowing the Camarillo plant to increase capacity without increasing its work force of 350 employees.

In the past, two-thirds of the solar panels made in Camarillo were exported for sale. Today, about 80 percent of the panels are sold in the United States.

SolarWorld competes with other solar companies that manufacture abroad because of cheaper production costs and import into the United States.

“We believe, if you do it efficiently, you can manufacture the product in the U.S. and be competitive in the world,” Yenamandra said.

SolarWorld, which acquired the Camarillo facility with its purchase of Shell Solar about a year ago, sees the value of investing in the company, Yenamandra said. SolarWorld has moved its sales office from San Diego to Camarillo.

SolarWorld’s focus on solar energy — as opposed to the more diversified Shell and previous owners ARCO and Siemens– means a better understanding of the business, said Gary Barsley, director of commercial projects for SolarWorld Industries America.

It also means that the company has long-term agreements with silicon suppliers and has some of its own silicon supply.

SolarWorld has its own silicon recycling operation, 10-year supply contracts and two silicon production joint ventures, according to a report from Citigroup Research. Many solar companies, Shell included, have struggled to get the silicon necessary to meet growing demand.

Installation of solar photovoltaic systems reached a high of 1,744 megawatts in 2006, up 19 percent from 2005, according to Solarbuzz, which follows the solar power industry.

Germany, where SolarWorld AG is based, makes up 55 percent of the world market for solar power. The United States makes up 8 percent. In 2006, the U.S. market grew 33 percent.

(c) 2007 Deseret News (Salt Lake City). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.