Analysis Of Sunpower Corporation, An American Solar Energy Company Essay

Heritage Solar is owned and operated by two engineers who have more than 50 years of combined experience. Together their team has designed, installed and commissioned more than 650 solar systems in over 70 cities in Southern California. They are a SunPower Elite Dealer and their staff includes an NABCEP certified installer who oversees all installations and processes. Their team also includes engineers with decades of electrical hardware design and contracting experience. Additionally, each installation crew is lead by C-10 electrical contractors.

The sun is the source of all life on Earth. In just one hour the sunlight hitting the earth’s surface provides enough energy to power the global economy for a full year (Brown, 2015). The sun will continue to burn for billions of years, making it an unquestionably reliable source for renewable energy. Modern-day photovoltaic (PV) solar cells rely on the photoelectric effect, a phenomenon where light is used to free electrons from a solid surface - usually silicon - to create electricity. PV panels are typically installed on homes and buildings, or in ground arrangements, sometimes called solar farms.

First Solar, Inc. located in Huntington Beach is a design and manufacturing company found in 1999 who produce photovoltaic modules, or solar panels, through the use of thin film semiconductors (Reuters, para 2). The company however, has a much earlier history than scribed. In 1984, inventor and owner of Solar Cells, Inc Harold McMaster manufactured solar cells from silicon (energyandcapital, para 2). However, as silicon became more expensive, McMaster decided to switch to cadmium telluride. This material was far more inexpensive than silicon which would eventually lead the company to thrive. So it thrived, as in 1999 the company was purchased by True North Partners, LLC and was named First Solar, Inc (energyandcapital, para 10). First Solar is the first solar company to flourish and create new solar innovations. Such as, producing 1 GW of solar electricity in a single year, breaking the one dollar per watt manufacturing overhead cost, and creating a photovoltaic module recycling program (FirstSolar, para 2). To put that into perspective clean technica explains that, “1GW of solar power can power up to 750,000 homes and about 2 coal-fired power plants” (Shahan, para 2). To evaluate whether First Solar is a smart investment decision, we will first take a look at growth & profitability of the company along with the corporate responsibility the company holds. We will also take into consideration energy efficiency as well as their support services. Based upon these factors a

The future of solar energy technology is poised for significant growth in the 21st century (Union of Concerned Scientists). It has been said that more

The solar industry has been riding a roller coaster over the past decade. Beginning with stratospheric poly-silicon prices and growing demand, the industry first hit a period of robust governmental subsidies, and market and investor hype. Typically, one might have expected an era of growth and stability to follow. Instead, the industry was beset by the financial crisis, the elimination of feed-in tariffs and other subsidies by governments seeking to marshal resources or avoid defaults during the European debt crisis, cheap natural gas, the much-maligned inexpensive Chinese imports of solar panels, a plummeting price of poly-silicon and a steady drumbeat of bankruptcies seeking to re-set long term

“Today, the industry’s production of PV modules is growing at approximately 25 percent annually, and major programs in the U.S., Japan and Europe are rapidly accelerating the implementation of PV systems on buildings and interconnection to utility networks.” (Florida Solar Energy Center, 2007)

Solar energy is not only abundant and renewable it is also sustainable and environmentally friendly. As a sustainable energy source, solar energy is able to meet the needs of the present without compromising

It is no secret that many of the methods we use to power our world today are terrible for the environment. This is the reason people have started to look toward renewable energy sources to be able to provide clean energy that lasts a long time. At the forefront of these resources is solar energy. Solar energy is a way of taking the energy from the sun and turning it into electricity that can power a home, car, etc. The key to turning the suns energy into energy we can use is a certain kind of cell called a photovoltaic cell. These cells are instrumental in allowing us to capture the sun's rays and turn them into electricity and other forms of power. Solar power and photovoltaics are relatively new to the science world, and people are just now starting to realize their full capabilities, with this, researchers are discovering more and more about how efficient this method is, the cost effectiveness, and maybe most importantly, just where solar power can lead us in the future.

Photovoltaic (PV) cells are a great way to produce energy from the sun. A photovoltaic cell is a semiconductor that converts light into a direct current. This energy can be used in calculators, homes, street signs, stop lights, and many more everyday products. In 1839, Antoine-César Becquerel discovered the photovoltaic effect. The photovoltaic effect is when light falls on an electrode, producing voltage. Following Becquerel’s discovery Charles Fritts constructed an ultrathin semiconductor of gold in order to produce a current. Charles Fritts method was very inefficient because it only converted less than 1% of the light intake to electricity. Even though gold semiconductors is inefficient in today's technology it was a foreshadowing of a new renewable source of energy. In 1927, copper oxide was used as a semiconductor while copper was used for the casing of the semiconductor. This new material still only converted less than 1% of the light intake into voltage. In 1941 the inefficiency problem was helped by Russell Ohl, who created the silicon solar cell. The use of the silicon solar cell proved to be more productive as it raised converted 6% of light intake. In 1980, solar cells fabricated out of

That great ball of fire up in the sky that we call the sun is the ultimate source of much of the power that is generated and used by man. Solar power is full of potential and has many benefits of which some are obvious and a few others that are not so easily realized by us. In fact, the sun has

Solar energy is a kind of sustainable energy and is the cleanest one for it has fewer side effects than other green energy like hydroelectricity. Solar energy comes from the sunlight, which is generated by the sun infinitely. According to a study (NREL, 2017), the total solar energy that cast from the sun to the earth per hour can meet the energy demand of the whole world in a year. Solar energy is a kind of energy that takes full advantages of light, radiation and heat inside the sunlight. Solar power contains two types: the active one and the passive one. The active solar technologies like photovoltaic solar energy system (PV), and energy conversion between sunlight and heat like solar water heating system which is extensively applied in family and industries. By using external facilities to supply energy, active solar techniques can use electronic equipment and machines to collect and concentrate scattering sunlight. On the other hand, passive solar technologies using architecture designs to utilize sunshine, without any external devices. According to Energy outlook presented in 2007 (REN21, 2008), China will become the biggest energy consumer and the largest greenhouse gases emitter in 2010. Since China began to study solar energy technologies and establishes photovoltaic (PV) around 1985 (Yang et al., 2003), China makes miraculous progress in solar technologies. Although China lacked essential and stimulative policies until 2010 (Zhang & He, 2013),

A background and description of new solar power generation components are needed to explain how solar energy is more economical, efficient, and cleaner (non-carbon) than most other forms of energy. There are two types of technology for converting solar energy into electricity — photovoltaics (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP), sometimes called solar thermal that condense or magnify sunlight. The most widely deployed solar electric technology in the world is photovoltaics (PV), another name for solar cells, that basically collect sunlight to create a direct current (DC) electric field. An inverter box converts this DC to

At the first glance, solar energy seems like the most practical solution to our energy needs. We receive heat from the sun, which provides us with energy needed to keep us going us on forever. It has been estimated that the Earth receives over 173,000 terawatts of energy every year, which is more than 10,000 times of what we need. Despite the abundance of solar energy, the challenge has always been collecting the energy. Although people were aware of photovoltaic cells (PV cells), solar panels have proven to be expensive to them firmly. The high costs of the solar panels and the high costs per square inch of the panels have made solar power economically unviable.

With the dawn of the energy crisis upon us, photovoltaic technology has become a crucial component of discussions centering around sustainability, clean energy, and renewable recourses. This is because there are a number of significant advantages associated with photovoltaic technology. First and foremost, this technology channels our Earth 's largest renewable energy source- the sun. In itself, the sun 's net solar power input to the Earth is more than 10,000 times humanity 's current rate of use of fossil and nuclear fuels. Thus, the energy source harnessed by PV technology is virtually inexhaustible,

SolarCity was founded in 2006 by brothers Peter and Lyndon Rive and are headquartered in San Mateo, California. Ever since 2007, SolarCity was the leading company for solar energy in California and holds its place as the number one residential installer in 2013 for the United States and also a second place for solar installation for the country. As the largest solar power provider, SolarCity is proud to provide clean energy for schools, homes, government and non-government organizations and businesses. The company serves not only in California, but in 18 other states and Washington DC, having 75 operating centers. SolarCity looks at their customer’s energy usage and provides improvements. As being the number one solar