Solyndra scores $238M deal with German solar integrator

Fremont, Calif.-based Solyndra said it signed a new, long-term sales contract for up to $238 million with Holzgerlingen, Germany-based solar integrator Umwelt-Sonne-Energie (USE). Yesterday's announcement was coupled with news from the U.S. Department of Energy saying the California solar maker is close to raising the money it needs to qualify for its $535 million loan guarantee that could help fund its second factory.

Kelly Truman, Solyndra’s vice president of marketing and business development, told the Cleantech Group the contract with USE, which extends through 2013, brings Solyndra's order backlog to more than $2 billion. The solar equipment for the contract is expected to be manufactured at the company’s Fremont and Milpitas facilities, and Truman said it is in the multi-megawatt range. He also said the contract is expected to be started at its current Fremont facility, which still ramping to its production capacity of 110 megawatts per year.

He said the deal could help accelerate the commercial rooftop deployment of Solyndra's PV installations in Germany and Eastern Europe, where USE has a strong presence.

"The bulk of our business has been in Europe," Truman said. "That's simply where the market is bigger."

The company would like to grow and add jobs in the United States, but Truman said the market just isn't there yet. In the second quarter of 2009 on a global level, solar took a dramatic nose dive to its lowest level of investment in more than three years, with only $114 million invested, down from an all-time high of $1.2 billion invested in the third quarter 2008 (see Cleantech may have seen the worst, rebounding to $1.2B in 2Q09).

Despite the industry's decline, Truman said Solyndra's revenue and shipments have been doubling every quarter, with the company just completing its first full year of shipping for revenue. 

Solyndra develops long cylinders coated in thin-film material inside glass tubes, which line up inside aluminum frames (see Solyndra reveals thin-film solar tubes). Solyndra said the tubes allow the CIGS material to capture optimal sunlight for a longer period than traditional flat panels.

The company has been busy signing a number of deals, including a $115 million supply deal with Zapfendorf, Germany-based solar integrator EBITSCHenergietechnik in May (see $1.8B backlog for Solyndra with new German deal). That deal brought Solyndra's order backlog to $1.8 billion, including $189 million with Amsterdam-based solar integrator SunConnex, $250 million with German solar integrator GeckoLogic, and $320 million with commercial roofing manufacturer Carlisle Construction Materials (see Solyndra inks $320M deal with roofing maker Carlisle).

Truman said these are all multiple-year contracts, so none have been fulfilled to date. However, the company has been fulfilling other orders and shipments that aren't part of the announced deals. 

The DOE's Energy Secretary Steven Chu told reporters yesterday Solyndra is close to wrapping up the nearly $200 million it needs to access its federal loan guarantee.

"It's just what Steven Chu said; we're pretty close," Truman said.

In March, the DOE offered a $535 million loan guarantee to Solyndra to expand its manufacturing by building a new factory in Milpitas. The company said it is planning to use the funds to cover 73 percent of the cost to build a 500-megawatt manufacturing facility (see Solyndra nabs $535M DOE loan for 500 MW factory).

Sources told the Cleantech Group in March that the company had closed a financing round of more than $100 million. Truman declined to comment.

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