Akeena Enters Manufacturing Partnership With Kyocera

LOS GATOS, Calif.--(Solar Energy News)--Akeena Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKNS), a leading designer and installer of solar power systems, and Kyocera Solar Inc., one of the world’s largest producers and suppliers of solar energy products, have announced a strategic partnership to manufacture Andalay solar panels. Under the agreement Kyocera will manufacture Andalay solar panels utilizing Kyocera’s high efficiency solar cells and will deliver 1.6 MW of panels to Akeena during 2008. Kyocera has also been named Akeena’s preferred supplier for its commercial business.

Andalay is the brand name for Akeena Solar’s proprietary solar panel technology. Unlike ordinary solar panels, Andalay panels feature built-in racking, wiring and grounding. Andalay panels attach directly to the roof with a minimum of roof penetrations and provide customers with a better looking and more reliable solar system. Moreover, an installed Andalay system uses 70 percent fewer parts and requires 25 percent fewer attachment points than ordinary solar panels, providing better long-term performance.

“This agreement marks an important expansion of our strategy as we transition to Andalay installations in 2008,” said Barry Cinnamon, chief executive officer of Akeena Solar. ”Kyocera has been an Akeena partner since 2001 and we are pleased to add them as one of our two suppliers of Andalay panels.

“Kyocera has an outstanding reputation for quality in the solar industry. Their understanding of the performance and reliability of Andalay solar panels is another validation of our technology’s benefits to customers,” added Cinnamon.

“We look forward to this next phase of our partnership with Akeena Solar. The Andalay solution is a distinctive approach for delivering high performance solar solutions that will be powered by Kyocera’s innovative cell technology,” stated Steve Hill, president of Kyocera Solar, Inc. “In response to growing demand, such as Akeena’s, this partnership also leverages Kyocera’s plans to expand its annual solar module manufacturing capacity to 500 MW by 2011.”