Solar panels may be coming to an Ikea near you

Ikea will expand the sale of solar-panel systems to eight countries after nearly a year of selling them in the U.K.

The Swedish home-furnishings company said Monday it will roll out the new products in the Netherlands next month, and in Switzerland later this year.

The company has not said where the systems will be introduced next. Ikea officials have not yet replied to requests for comment.

The company has outlets in dozens of countries in Europe, North America, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and in the Asia Pacific region. It opened its first U.S. store in the 1980s.

Ikea started selling solar-power systems in its U.K. stores in October 2013, after a trial period earlier that year. It has teamed up with Hanergy Solar Group Ltd.

Hanergy last month completed the acquisition of Alta Devices Inc. of California, a developer of thin-film solar cells. Hanergy bought U.S. solar firm Miasole over a year ago.

A purchase price was not disclosed. In a statement at the time, Hanergy said it wanted to expand Alta’s products in mobile power areas, including the so-called “Internet of things.”

Alta’s cells allows more energy to be produced in lower light settings, and uses the compound gallium arsenide as semiconductor, rather than the more common silicon, the company said.

Hanergy is privately held. Its counterpart panel makers were mostly higher on Tuesday, with shares of Canadian Solar Inc. CSIQ, -3.35%  among the top gainers, up 1.3%.

Analysts at Canaccord on Tuesday upped their price target on Canadian Solar to $48 from $44 a share, saying the company, which makes most of its panels in China, has a project pipeline that put it in “an enviable position” among peers that have yet to gain a foothold in international markets.

Canaccord kept its buy rating on Canadian Solar.

Limited capacity expansion among solar-panel makers, some tightness in demand, and stable prices in the fourth quarter, benefitted solar-panel manufacturers like Canadian Solar, added the analysts, led by Josh Baribeau. 

Via: Marketwatch