Intel Spins off Solar Energy Technology; Intel Capital Invests in SpectraWatt
To spur new development and demand for renewable energy sources, Intel Corporation is spinning off key assets of a start-up business effort inside Intel's New Business Initiatives group to form an independent company called SpectraWatt Inc. Intel Capital, Intel's global investment organization, is leading a $50 million investment round in SpectraWatt and is joined by Cogentrix Energy, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., PCG Clean Energy and Technology Fund (“CETF”) and Solon AG. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2008. SpectraWatt will manufacture and supply photovoltaic cells to solar module makers.
In addition to focusing on advanced solar cell technologies, SpectraWatt will concentrate development efforts on improvements in current manufacturing processes and capabilities to reduce the cost of photovoltaic energy generation.
Solar cells are the discrete components in a solar energy generation system responsible for converting sunlight to electricity. The end-user market segment for solar technology in 2007 was approximately $30 billion, a 50 percent increase from 2006. Solar industry growth of 30 to 40 percent annually is expected to continue in years to come as the economics of solar, which is currently approximately twice the cost of delivered retail electricity on a per kilowatt basis, begins to approach that of traditional electricity-generation technologies.
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