SAN DIEGO, Oct. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SunPower Corporation (Nasdaq: SPWRA, SPWRB), a Silicon Valley-based manufacturer of high-efficiency solar cells, solar panels, and solar systems, and GE (NYSE: GE) announced today the completion of a 1.1-megawatt solar-electric power system on the roof of HP's printing technology research and development facility in San Diego. The companies are jointly dedicating the system today at the HP site.
SunPower is also providing HP employees with preferred rates on solar power systems for their homes.
At the San Diego facility, SunPower installed a SunPower(R) T10 Solar Roof Tile commercial roof system, which is a non-penetrating product that tilts at a 10-degree angle to increase energy capture. The system will reduce more than 60 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions over the next 30 years, which is equivalent to providing electricity to 3800 homes or removing more than 5250 cars from the road.
"We applaud HP's vision for the future as well as its understanding that solar makes good business sense today," said Tom Werner, chief executive officer of SunPower. "For leading companies and individual homeowners, clean, reliable solar power will become a core energy investment over the next decade. Solar power can be delivered anywhere, at any scale, when and where we need it."
As an alternative to purchasing the commercial system itself, HP is buying electricity from GE Energy Financial Services, a unit of GE that owns the system under SunPower Access(TM), a power purchase agreement program. HP owns the renewable energy credits and environmental benefits associated with the system, which it may retire or sell. The solar electricity is competitively priced against retail rates, providing HP with a long-term hedge against rising peak power prices.
"Collaborating with SunPower enables us to provide HP with an efficient and cost-competitive way to realize the financial savings and environmental benefits of solar power," said Kevin Walsh, managing director and leader of renewable energy at GE Energy Financial Services. "For us, this project diversifies our renewable energy portfolio with more solar assets and supports ecomagination, GE's program to help its customers meet their environmental challenges while expanding its own portfolio of cleaner energy products."
SunPower has also collaborated with HP to provide SunPower residential solar electric systems to U.S.-based HP employees at reduced rates. To date, more than 500 HP employees have signed up for the program, and about 60 have completed the installation of SunPower systems at their homes.
"HP has set aggressive goals to reduce the environmental impact of both our operations and that of our customers through product innovation," said Ron Coughlin, senior vice president and leader of environmental strategy for HP's Imaging and Printing Group. "By generating clean, affordable solar power with this flagship installation in San Diego, SunPower and GE are helping us achieve those goals with no initial out-of-pocket expenses, offering us long-term savings on electricity costs."
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Monday, October 13, 2008
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