By Herman K. Trabish
greentechmedia.com
“We are prepared to deal with whatever we need to deal with to play in the market.”
A recent panel of solar CEOs predicted that 2011’s approximately 1,500 solar module manufacturers will have been Darwinized to as few as 100 by 2016.
SOLON Corporation has turned toward innovation for survival. “We are prepared to deal with whatever we need to deal with to play in the market,” explained SOLON Director of Research and Development Bill Richardson.
SOLON SE, the Berlin-based parent company, Richardson said, began as a residential rooftop solar system kit provider, evolved into module manufacturing and then became an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) provider. It built the world’s first utility-scale solar installation, a twelve-megawatt project. Established as a subsidiary of the now bankrupt SOLON SE, the U.S. company was part of the bankruptcy settlement in which UAE-based cell maker Microsol, took over SOLON SE assets earlier this year.
“Nothing changes for us,” Richardson said. “We are building SOLquick units, doing really fast installs on flat roofs, and looking five years ahead at system storage.”
“We were one of the first to get out of module manufacturing,” added Director of Marketing Patricia Browne. Even before the bankruptcy, “we realized we needed to adapt to the market changes and figure out how to survive.”
