Where will the solar startups be in five years?

I am not typically a pessimist but would like to think of myself as more of a realist – in this light (pun intended), I have to wonder where all the solar cell/module/power startups of today will be in five years. As anyone who is in, or follows, the electronic design automation tool part of the industry knows: startups abound – for a limited time.  Some are fortunate to be the subject of an acquisition as their exit strategy – which is the preferred method even though few admit it. Others simply slip away into oblivion, or assets are purchased by the big guys to leverage and incorporate.

It will be interesting to see over the next decade to see how the solar-everything industry takes off.

Speaking of new ventures, Canadian solar player ICP Solar Technologies Inc. has created a new joint venture thin film factory by selling a majority of its shares in its wholly-owned manufacturing subsidiary ICP Solar Technologies (UK) Ltd. located in Wales, Great Britain, to ISE Solar LLC for $3 million. The company said it is retaining a minority shareholding of the facility to continue to benefit from its output, and, chairman and CEO of ICP Solar will remain on the board of the joint venture company.

ISE Solar’s president said it will focus on “the facility's automation and expansion, with focus on solar cell process improvements."

Also in the solar realm, photovoltaic product maker DayStar Technologies appointed a new CFO. This company's technology sounds intriguing: according the its website, "A mainstay of DayStar’s Photovoltaic Foil product family, TerraFoil-FP is an alternative to silicon wafer solar cells currently used in flat plate PV modules."

"The product consists of a high performance CIGS solar cell deposited on 1 - 5 mil stainless steel depending on application. TerraFoil-FP will be available in 100mm and 125mm square sizes, similar to the majority of today’s silicon cells and can be assembled into conventional flat plate PV modules with automated machinery used commonly by module manufacturing companies in the PV supply chain."

The company also has what it calls, TerraFoil-SP, described as an "alternative to silicon wafer solar cells in smaller PV modules and specialty consumer product applications."

I'll definitely be watching these companies and others!

Please chime in with thoughts!

-Ann Steffora Mutschler, Senior Editor