Road Runner

Does a Move into Solar Make Sense for the Big Semis?

About half the cost of a solar system is other than the module price, like framing, electrical wiring, converters, installation, etc. There is much more to being a profitable solar company than making cheap modules. Sunpower, and others, know this so they are vertically integrated to bring down the whole system cost. These giant chip manufacturers have no experience in these areas and thus have limited competitive advantage when bringing down the total system cost.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Sunpower eventually form a partnership with a chip company that has developed a good, cheap, thin-film solar module. The chip company gets the system construction, installation, and distribution channels of Sunpower. Sunpower gets additional income, more efficient use of its distribution channels, and an additional, complementary product line (cheaper thin-film product vs. Sunpower’s compact, high-efficiency product) that increases Sunpower’s “push marketing”.