SunPower

Last updated

SunPower Corporation
Nasdaq: SPWR
Industry Renewable energy
Founded1985;39 years ago (1985)
Founder Richard Swanson
Headquarters
Richmond, California
,
United States
Area served
United States and Canada
Key people
Tom Werner (Principal Executive Officer)
RevenueIncrease2.svg US$1,741 million (2022)
Decrease2.svgUS$(0.49) million (2022)
Increase2.svgUS$60.463 million (2022)
Total assets Increase2.svgUS$1,780 million (2022)
Total equity Increase2.svgUS$575 million (2022)
Number of employees
4,710 (2022)
Parent TotalEnergies (50.6%)
Website sunpower.com
Footnotes /references
Financials as of December 31,2022.
References: [1]

SunPower Corporation is an American provider of photovoltaic solar energy generation systems and battery energy storage products, primarily for residential customers. The company, headquartered in San Jose, California, was founded in 1985 by Richard Swanson, an electrical engineering professor from Stanford University. Cypress Semiconductor bought a majority interest in the company in 2002, growing it quickly until SunPower went public in 2005. TotalEnergies, a French energy and oil company purchased a controlling interest in SunPower for US$1.37 billion in 2011 but disengaged progressively until reaching 32.5%.[ citation needed ]

Contents

The company previously developed and manufactured photovoltaic panels, before spinning off that part of its business in 2020 as Maxeon Solar Technologies. The company had also previously marketed its products to commercial and industrial customers before agreeing to sell that business line to TotalEnergies in February 2022.

SunPower filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August 2024. [2]

History

Early history

SunPower was founded on April 24, 1985, by Richard Swanson, [3] who was a Stanford University professor focused on electrical engineering. [4] Swanson studied solar power efficiency in the Stanford Electronics Laboratory with funding from research grants. [5] : 468  After breaking a record for solar power efficiency in lab conditions, he took a sabbatical to start SunPower and commercialize the technology. [4] [6] Initially, the company was called Eos and was funded with $2,000 in savings between Swanson and his friend Richard Crane. [5] : 468  In 1989, Robert Lorenzini invested in the company, became its chairman, and changed the name to SunPower. [5] : 468 

Some of SunPower's early revenues were from research grants [3] and using its manufacturing facilities to create silicon wafers for semiconductor companies. [5] : 468  Interest grew as SunPower completed prototype installations [4] and portable electronics that use solar power became more popular. [5] : 468  Swanson resigned from his academic position at Stanford in 1991, in order to focus on SunPower full-time. [6] The company's revenues grew from $600,000 in 1989 to $1.4 million in 1995, and $6 million in 1996. [5] : 468  However, by 2001 the company was anticipating having to lay off half of its employees. [7]

Growth

SunPower founder Richard Swanson's former classmate, T.J. Rodgers, was the CEO of Cypress Semiconductor and took an interest in investing in the company. [7] At first, the Cypress board wasn't willing to invest, so Rodgers invested $750,000 of his own money. [8] Starting with an investment of $8 million, Cypress eventually invested about $150 million, [8] acquiring a controlling interest in SunPower in 2002. [7] Cypress appointed Tom Werner as the new CEO the following year. [5] : 469 

Demand for SunPower's products increased in the early 2000s, due to rising utility costs, government subsidies, and its new A-300 solar cell. [5] : 469  [9] In particular, SunPower grew in Germany and California, where new government subsidies were being introduced. [9] By 2005, SunPower was not yet profitable, [5] : 469  but had $200 million in backlogged orders. [9] Revenues increased from $5 million in 2003 to $78.7 million in 2005. [5] : 469 

As the company was getting closer to profitability, it filed an initial public offering. [5] : 469  The 2005 offering raised $138.6 million in funding. [7] The following year, SunPower was profitable for the first time with $236.5 million in revenues. [5] : 469  SunPower moved into a larger corporate headquarters location in San Jose, California and secured several contracts with major retailers for solar panel installations. [5] : 469–70  In 2007, SunPower announced plans to expand its manufacturing facility five-fold [10] and build a second factory. [11]

SunPower collaborated with PowerLight to develop its roofing-tile solar product called SunTile. [5] : 469  [12] In order to combine their R&D efforts, SunPower acquired PowerLight for $265 million, in January 2007. [5] : 469–70  Analysts estimated the acquisition doubled SunPower's size. [12] Shortly afterwards, PowerLight secured a $330 million contract, the largest SunPower had ever done. [13] By 2007, half of Cypress' revenues, or $775 million, was coming from its investment in SunPower. [14] SunPower was spun-off as a separate business from Cypress in 2008. [14]

SunPower acquired Sunray Renewable Energy, a solar panel company based in Italy, for $277 million in 2010, in order to expand in Europe. [15] [16] The following year, SunPower cut back production due to an overall market decline in solar power purchases. [17] SunPower also announced the French oil and gas company Total was acquiring a majority interest in SunPower for $1.37 billion. [18] In 2012, SunPower founder Richard Swanson retired, though he continued to serve on the SunPower advisory board. [6]

By 2013, SunPower's revenues rebounded and it started expanding its manufacturing facilities again. [17] That same year, it acquired Greenbotics, which developed automated cleaning systems for solar panels, and Dragonfly, which developed solar micro-inverters. [19] [20] This was followed by SunPower's 2014 acquisition of SolarBridge, which developed microinverters used to improve the efficiency of solar panels. [20] In 2018, SunPower sold its microinverter business to Enphase Energy and since that time Sunpower has used Enphase microinverters in all AC module products. [21] [22]

In 2014, SunPower raised $220 million from Bank of America and Merrill Lynch, in order to fund customer financing options. [23] That same year, SunPower invested $20 million in a home energy app company called Tendril. [24] As part of the deal, the two companies began integrating their products, so the home automation software from Tendril could time heavy energy use for when the solar panels are generating the most power. [24]

Spin-offs

In 2019, SunPower announced it was going to spin-off its manufacturing division into a separate business in Singapore named Maxeon Solar Technologies. [25] As part of the deal, Tianjin Zhonghuan Semiconductor Co invested $298 million for a 29% interest in Maxeon. [25] [26] The remaining SunPower business became focused on services, installation, batteries, and other products. [26] In 2021, Tom Werner retired as CEO and Peter Faricy took his place as CEO. [27]

In February 2022, SunPower spun-off its commercial and industrial installation divisions, which were purchased by SunPower investor TotalEnergies for $250 million. SunPower said the transaction would allow it to focus on residential installations. [28]

Technical default and bankruptcy

The company announced on December 18, 2023, that there was a question it will be a "going concern," indicating that leadership was uncertain if the company could continue operations given the company's current financial position. The company also announced that it previously incorrectly accounted for inventory, causing a technical default; however creditors gave the company time to shore up its finances before calling those debts. [29]

On August 5, 2024, SunPower filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company has entered a stalking horse bid to sell off its assets to Complete Solaria for $50 million. [30]

Related Research Articles

Applied Materials, Inc. is an American corporation that supplies equipment, services and software for the manufacture of semiconductor chips for electronics, flat panel displays for computers, smartphones, televisions, and solar products. The company also supplies equipment to produce coatings for flexible electronics, packaging and other applications. The company is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and is the second largest supplier of semiconductor equipment in the world based on revenue behind ASML of Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cypress Semiconductor</span> Defunct American semiconductor company

Cypress Semiconductor Corporation was an American semiconductor design and manufacturing company. It offered NOR flash memories, F-RAM and SRAM Traveo microcontrollers, PSoCs, PMICs, capacitive touch-sensing controllers, Wireless BLE Bluetooth Low-Energy and USB connectivity solutions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solar inverter</span> Converts output of a photovoltaic panel into a utility frequency alternating current

A solar inverter or photovoltaic (PV) inverter is a type of power inverter which converts the variable direct current (DC) output of a photovoltaic solar panel into a utility frequency alternating current (AC) that can be fed into a commercial electrical grid or used by a local, off-grid electrical network. It is a critical balance of system (BOS)–component in a photovoltaic system, allowing the use of ordinary AC-powered equipment. Solar power inverters have special functions adapted for use with photovoltaic arrays, including maximum power point tracking and anti-islanding protection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">T. J. Rodgers</span> American scientist and entrepreneur

Thurman John "T. J." Rodgers is an American billionaire scientist and entrepreneur. He is the founder of Cypress Semiconductor and holds patents ranging from semiconductors to energy to winemaking. Rodgers is known for his public relations acumen, brash personality, and strong advocacy of laissez-faire capitalism. He stepped down as Cypress CEO in April 2016 and Director in August 2016 after serving for 34 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solar panel</span> Assembly of photovoltaic cells used to generate electricity

A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. The electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct current (DC) electricity, which can be used to power various devices or be stored in batteries. Solar panels are also known as solar cell panels, solar electric panels, or PV modules.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suntech Power</span> Chinese producer of solar panels

Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. is a Chinese producer of solar panels, with 2,000 MW (2,700,000 hp) of annual production capacity by the end of 2011. It is headquartered in Wuxi, Jiangsu. Shunfeng International Clean Energy Limited, a HKSE listed renewable energy investment and Independent Power Producer company, acquired Suntech in 2014 following Suntech's bankruptcy in 2013. With offices or production facilities in every major market, Suntech has delivered more than 13,000,000 solar panels to thousands of companies in more than 80 countries around the world. As the center for the company's global operations, Suntech headquarters, in Wuxi, China, features the world's largest building integrated solar facade.

Nanosolar was a developer of solar power technology. Based in San Jose, CA, Nanosolar developed and briefly commercialized a low-cost printable solar cell manufacturing process. The company started selling thin-film CIGS panels mid-December 2007, and planned to sell them at 99 cents per watt, much below the market at the time. However, prices for solar panels made of crystalline silicon declined significantly during the following years, reducing most of Nanosolar's cost advantage. By February 2013 Nanosolar had laid off 75% of its work force. Nanosolar began auctioning off its equipment in August 2013. Co-Founder of Nanosolar Martin Roscheisen stated on his personal blog that nanosolar "ultimately failed commercially." and that he would not enter this industry again because of slow-development cycle, complex production problems and the impact of cheap Chinese solar power production. Nanosolar ultimately produced less than 50 MW of solar power capacity despite having raised more than $400 million in investment.

Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Denver, Colorado that develops precision power conversion, measurement and control technologies for the manufacture of semiconductors, flat panel displays, data storage products, telecommunications network equipment, industrial coatings, medical devices, solar cells and architectural glass.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Solar</span> American solar power company

First Solar, Inc. is a publicly traded American manufacturer of solar panels, and provider of utility-scale PV power plants, supporting services that include finance, construction, maintenance and end-of-life panel recycling. First Solar uses rigid thin-film modules for its solar panels, and produces CdTe panels using cadmium telluride (CdTe) as a semiconductor. The company was founded in 1990 by inventor Harold McMaster as Solar Cells, Inc. and the Florida Corporation in 1993 with JD Polk. In 1999 it was purchased by True North Partners, LLC, who rebranded it as First Solar, Inc.

SunEdison, Inc. is a renewable energy company headquartered in the U.S. In addition to developing, building, owning, and operating solar power plants and wind energy plants, it also manufactures high-purity polysilicon, monocrystalline silicon ingots, silicon wafers, solar modules, solar energy systems, and solar module racking systems. Originally a silicon-wafer manufacturer established in 1959 as the Monsanto Electronic Materials Company, the company was sold by Monsanto in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California Valley Solar Ranch</span> Photovoltaic power plant in California, US

The California Valley Solar Ranch (CVSR) is a 250 megawatt (MWAC) photovoltaic power plant in the Carrizo Plain, northeast of California Valley. The project is owned by NRG Energy, and SunPower is the EPC contractor and technology provider. The project constructed on 1,966 acres (796 ha) of a 4,365-acre (1,766 ha) site of former grazing land. It is utilizing high-efficiency, crystalline PV panels designed and manufactured by SunPower. The project includes up to 88,000 SunPower solar tracking devices to hold PV panels that track the sun across the sky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ascent Solar</span>

Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. is a publicly traded photovoltaic (PV) company located in Thornton, Colorado. Its primary product is a flexible CIGS solar cell on a plastic substrate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SVTC Technologies</span>

SVTC Technologies was a technology services company that provided development and commercialization services for semiconductor process-based technologies and products. SVTC operated from 2004 to October 2012.

SolarBridge Technologies (SolarBridge) is an American company specializing in solar micro-inverters for photovoltaic arrays, designed to enhance energy output and system reliability while aiming to lower installation and maintenance costs. The company was acquired by solar panel manufacturer SunPower in autumn of 2014. In 2018 SunPower sold the former SolarBridge microinverter business to Enphase Energy.

Enphase Energy, Inc. is an American energy technology company headquartered in Fremont, California, that develops and manufactures solar micro-inverters, battery energy storage, and EV charging stations primarily for residential customers. Enphase was established in 2006 and is the first company to successfully commercialize the solar micro-inverter, which converts the direct current (DC) power generated by a solar panel into grid-compatible alternating current (AC) for use or export. The company has shipped more than 48 million microinverters to 2.5 million solar systems in more than 140 countries.

Siva Power, Inc. is an American solar power company that developed thin-film technology. The company designed and manufactured copper indium gallium deselenide (CIGS) photovoltaics. Siva Power is based in San Jose, California. Bruce Sohn is CEO and Mark Heising is Chairman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LONGi</span> Chinese solar company

LONGi Green Energy Technology Co. Ltd. or LONGi Group (隆基股份), formerly Xi'an Longi Silicon Materials Corporation, is a Chinese photovoltaics company, a major manufacturer of solar modules and a developer of solar power projects.

The Fort Churchill Solar Array is a 19.9 megawatt (MWAC) concentrator photovoltaics power station near the city of Yerington in Lyon County, Nevada. It is the largest assembly of SunPower C7 tracker low concentration PV (LCPV) technology in the United States. The facility was constructed for Apple Inc. to service its Reno Technology Park Data Center.

Maxeon Solar Technologies, Ltd. is a Singapore-based company that designs and manufactures photovoltaic panels. The company was previously a division of the American company SunPower. Maxeon was spun off from SunPower in August 2020. Maxeon was the primary provider of solar panels for SunPower through March 2024. Beyond the United States, Maxeon has sales operations in more than 100 countries and has the rights to use the SunPower brand in countries outside the United States.

References

  1. ↑ "SunPower 2022 Annual Report". March 9, 2023.
  2. ↑ "SUNPOWER CORPORATION Bankruptcy Filing". bankruptcyobserver.com. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  3. 1 2 Hull, Dana (April 23, 2010). "2010: Q&A with Dick Swanson, founder and president of SunPower". The Mercury News. Archived from the original on September 10, 2021. Retrieved May 31, 2021. He founded SunPower on April 24, 1985, and the small company lived on research grants and small projects until...
  4. 1 2 3 Chandler, David (May 7, 1990). "Renewable Energy Some Say Alternative Fuels Could Supply 80 Percent of the Nation's Needs by 2010". The Boston Globe. p. 27. Richard Swanson, a professor of electrical engineering at Stanford University, created cells that hold the efficiency record for single-element photovoltaics in the laboratory. Now, he has taken a sabbatical to start a solar energy company in Mountain View... His company, called SunPower, has installed prototypes in Atlanta and elsewhere and plans to have commercial plants producing power at competitive prices by the middle of this decade.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Grant, Tina (2009). "SunPower Corp.". International Directory of Company Histories. Vol. 91. St. James Press. pp. 467–470.
  6. 1 2 3 Wesoff, Eric (October 8, 2012). "Dick Swanson Retiring From SunPower, But Not Done". Greentech Media. Archived from the original on March 18, 2021. Retrieved May 31, 2021. where his group developed the point-contact solar cell. Lab versions set a record...In 1991, Dr. Swanson resigned from the faculty
  7. 1 2 3 4 Takahashi, Dean (August 18, 2014). "2005: Hot IPO for solar cell maker SunPower". The Mercury News. Archived from the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved May 29, 2021.
  8. 1 2 "Cypress' solar-power gambit bears fruit in SunPower IPO". EE Times. December 12, 2005. Archived from the original on December 20, 2021. Retrieved December 20, 2021. In his first attempt at interesting the Cypress board in an investment, Rodgers got nowhere, so he cut SunPower a personal check for $750,000 to keep the company going until he could sway his board. Cypress later invested $150 million in SunPower, beginning with an initial $8 million investment.
  9. 1 2 3 Carlton, Jim (May 19, 2005). "Solar Energy May Help Cypress Regain Its Glow; CEO Invested $110 Million To Retool SunPower Chips; Now, Orders Are Pouring In". The Wall Street Journal. p. A.7.
  10. ↑ Añonuevo, Euan (April 20, 2007). "SunPower to Jack up Solar-Cell Production". The Manila Times. SunPower Philippines will expand by fivefold its solar-cell-manufacturing business in the country due to strong demand abroad.
  11. ↑ Tribble, Sarha (April 16, 2007). "2007: Sunpower: Gains powered by clean energy". The Mercury News. Archived from the original on September 10, 2021. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  12. 1 2 Carlton, Jim (November 16, 2006). "SunPower Buys PowerLight As Alternative-Energy Market Revs Up". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on September 10, 2021. Retrieved May 30, 2021. SunPower and PowerLight have collaborated on a roofing-tile product, called SunTile
  13. ↑ Bunk, Matthew (December 16, 2005). "PowerLight, SunPower switch on a new deal". Oakland Tribune. Archived from the original on December 20, 2021. Retrieved December 20, 2021. It's the largest ever supply contract for SunPower, which went public Nov. 15.
  14. 1 2 Johnson, Steve (October 13, 2008). "2008: Cypress Semiconductor goes it alone without SunPower". The Mercury News. Archived from the original on September 10, 2021. Retrieved May 31, 2021. last year accounting for some $775 million – or about half – of Cypress' revenue
  15. ↑ Gupta, Poornima (February 11, 2010). "UPDATE 2-SunPower to acquire Europe's SunRay for $277 mln". Reuters. Archived from the original on September 10, 2021. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  16. ↑ Hull, Dana (February 11, 2010). "2010: SunPower to acquire SunRay Renewable Energy". The Mercury News. Archived from the original on April 10, 2021. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  17. 1 2 Wang, Ucilia (October 30, 2013). "Back to growth: SunPower to boost solar cell manufacturing by 25%". Gigaom. Archived from the original on September 10, 2021. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  18. ↑ Groom, Nichola (April 28, 2011). "Total SA to pay up to $1.37 billion for SunPower stake". Reuters. Archived from the original on September 10, 2021. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  19. ↑ Chernova, Yuliya (November 12, 2014). "SunPower Buys Microinverter Startup SolarBridge". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on September 10, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  20. 1 2 Chernova, Yuliya (November 11, 2014). "SunPower Buys Microinverter Startup SolarBridge". VentureWire.
  21. ↑ Hoium, Travis (June 14, 2018). "Why the SunPower-Enphase Energy Microinverter Deal Makes Sense for Everyone". The Motley Fool. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  22. ↑ "SunPower's Planned Spin-Off, Maxeon Solar Technologies, and Enphase Energy Announce High-Efficiency AC Module Partnership for International Solar Customers". SunPower (Press release). July 15, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
  23. ↑ Fehrenbacher, Katie (June 25, 2014). "After twists and turns, SunPower and SolarCity emerge as fierce rivals for solar roofs". Gigaom. Archived from the original on April 16, 2021. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  24. 1 2 Tweed, Katherine (December 15, 2014). "SunPower Invests $20M in Tendril to Link Solar With Home Energy Management". Greentech Media. Archived from the original on April 12, 2021. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  25. 1 2 "One of America's biggest solar-panel makers quits manufacturing". Los Angeles Times. November 12, 2019. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
  26. 1 2 Sarkar, Arundhati (November 11, 2019). "SunPower to spin off solar panel manufacturing, shares rise". Reuters. Archived from the original on September 10, 2021. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  27. ↑ "SunPower CEO to retire, former Amazon executive named top boss". Reuters. March 25, 2021. Archived from the original on March 25, 2021. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  28. ↑ Stevens, Pippa (February 10, 2022). "SunPower sells commercial and industrial business to biggest investor, TotalEnergies". CNBC. Archived from the original on February 24, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  29. ↑ Hoium, Travis (December 18, 2023). "Why SunPower's Stock Dropped 41% on Monday". The Motley Fool . Retrieved December 18, 2023.
  30. ↑ Jeffery, Adam (August 5, 2024). "SunPower files for bankruptcy, to sell some $45 million assets via stalking horse bid". CNBC. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.