Akeena Solar, Inc. (NASDQ: AKNS), a leading designer and installer of solar power systems, announced that its state-of-the-art solar panel technology, Andalay, will be distributed in Europe, Japan and Australia under a license agreement with Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STP) one of the world's leading manufacturers of photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules.
The terms of the Licensing Agreement authorize Suntech to distribute Andalay in Europe, Japan and Australia commencing in January 2008. This Licensing Agreement is in addition to Suntech’s previous agreement to manufacture Andalay solar panels.
Andalay solar-panel technology was envisioned by Akeena’s CEO, Barry Cinnamon, after years of rooftop solar installation experience and customer feedback. “Andalay improves on conventional solar panels by including built-in wiring, grounding and racking designed to provide maximum rooftop performance for consumers while minimizing installation costs for solar system installers. The result is a rooftop solar power system with superior built-in reliability with outstanding aesthetics in an all-black, streamlined appearance,” said Barry Cinnamon. “Moreover, an installed Andalay system uses 70 percent fewer parts and requires 25 percent fewer attachment points than traditional solar systems, meaning better long-term performance.”
Len May, Suntech’s Managing Director of BIPV Products, said: “Akeena’s new Andalay technology will be a valuable addition to our growing portfolio of solar products and will help keep Suntech on the leading edge of solar technology innovation. Andalay is a significant innovation that directly addresses the need to reduce the cost of solar systems, and we are confident that there will be significant demand for this attractive and high performance solar solution in markets outside of the U.S.” Suntech targets sales of over 10MW of the Andalay solar panels to the licensed regions in 2008.
“We welcome this expanded collaboration with Akeena Solar to introduce this lower installed cost solution to international markets,” said Dr. Zhengrong Shi, Suntech’s Chairman and CEO. “The innovative Andalay panel is the perfect complement to our product offering and a clear example of Suntech’s efforts to support and promote products that bring the industry closer to grid parity. This agreement will leverage Suntech’s product development expertise, flexible and low cost manufacturing base, and robust global sales and distribution channels to expand the availability of this important new solar innovation.”
“We are delighted Andalay will be available in select countries outside the United States through one of the world's leading manufacturers of solar cells and panels,” said Barry Cinnamon. “Suntech is the natural partner to license this technology given their role in co-developing and manufacturing the product, and their extensive international distribution channels that are among the strongest in the industry. Akeena Solar and Suntech also share a focus on quality and value. We are experiencing very strong demand for Andalay, and this licensing agreement with Suntech will allow us to meet our customer’s needs for Andalay outside of our direct channels in the U.S.”
About Akeena Solar, Inc.
Founded in 2001, Akeena Solar's philosophy is simple: We believe producing clean electricity directly from the sun is the right thing to do for our environment and economy. Akeena Solar has grown to become one of the largest national installer of residential and small commercial solar power systems in the United States, serving customers directly in California, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. For more information, visit Akeena Solar's website at www.akeena.com
About Suntech
Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. is a world leading solar energy company as measured by both production output and capacity of solar cells and modules. Suntech is passionate about improving the environment we live in and dedicated to developing advanced solar solutions that enable sustainable development. Suntech designs, develops, manufactures, and markets a variety of high quality, cost effective and environmentally friendly solar products for electric power applications in the residential, commercial, industrial, and public utility sectors. Suntech offers one of the broadest ranges of building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) products under the MSK brand. Suntech has sales offices worldwide and is a market share leader in key global solar markets. For more information, please visit http://www.suntech-power.com.