Economy forces consolidation in solar industry

A wave of consolidation is sweeping the solar power industry.

San Francisco’s Recurrent Energy will announce today that it will buy an entire portfolio of development projects from UPC Solar of Chicago. The two privately-held companies have not disclosed terms of the deal.

The solar projects – some of them still on the drawing board, some further along – would generate a maximum total of 350 megawatts of electricity if built, equivalent to a small fossil-fuel power plant. They are scattered across the United States and Canada, with many clustered in Ontario.

The deal isn’t unique. Just two weeks ago, Hayward’s OptiSolar agreed to sell all its development projects to First Solar, a rival based in Arizona. On the same day, a Spanish company announced that it would buy MMA Renewable Ventures, a renewable power developer in San Francisco.

The deals reflect the brutal environment for small alternative energy firms. The financial crisis has cut off their access to capital, leaving many of them unable to build their projects. Companies with stronger balance sheets are seizing the opportunity to go shopping, snapping up worthwhile projects and personnel.

San Francisco Chronicle