Suniva, Solon in $500M supply deal

Atlanta-based Suniva announced today that it signed an agreement to supply $500 million worth of solar cells to Germany's Solon, a solar module manufacturer.

Suniva will deliver high-efficiency monocrystalline silicon solar cells to Solon through 2012 under the contract.

"As one of the highest quality solar module manufacturers in the world, Solon is and will continue to be a strong industry partner for Suniva," said John Baumstark, CEO of Suniva. "This agreement marks another milestone in our growth strategy as we solidify Suniva's powerful position in the solar supply chain."

Suniva said it will produce and ship the solar cells from its new manufacturing facility in Atlanta. The plant has a preliminary capacity of 32 megawatts on the first line, with additional lines expected to add more than 130 MW of capacity over the next two years.

Thomas Krupke, CEO of Solon, said, "Teaming up with this strong partner enables us to further expand our supplier basis."

Suniva's deal with Solon comes on the heels of a solar wafer supply agreement that Suniva signed with Norway's Renewable Energy Corp., or REC. Under that long term deal, REC will supply Suniva with more than $300 million worth of monocrystalline silicon wafers over the next five years.

Earlier this year, Suniva raised $50 million in a second round of funding (see More solar heads to market). Advanced Equities and return investor New Enterprise Associates co-led the round, joined by Goldman Sachs unit Cogentrix Energy, H.I.G. Ventures and Quercus Investments.

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