SolarCity Acquires Zep Solar To Bring Installation Costs Down, Anticipates ~80% More Installations In 2014
Solar energy is not new to humans. People began considering (the obvious) in the 7th century BC, when humans understood they could concentrate the sun’s heat with glass and mirrors to light fires. Solar energy makes complete sense. Using solar for our houses and business is certainly efficient, economical, and takes up no extra space. Solar panels add polish and class to any structure. Presently, SolarCity is bringing this sensible and classy clean energy solution to a record number of people, but it has plans to reach many, many more.
SolarCity anticipates that it will install 80% more solar systems in 2014 than it did in 2013, and this US-focused rooftop PV provider has just spent $158 to obtain Zep Solar to help make that happen. The move is targeted at bringing down installation costs… immediately.
PV-tech reports on SolarCity’s assimilation of Zep Solar:
“Zep Solar’s product allows each of our crews to install significantly more solar every day, and it looks better on the roof than any comparable product we’ve seen,” said Tanguy Serra, SolarCity’s executive vice president of operations. “By acquiring Zep Solar, we can deliver solar electricity at a lower cost than was previously possible.”
After the close of the acquisition, Zep Solar will operate as an independent business unit of SolarCity, still under the control of its current chief executive Mike Miskovsky.
“The combining of SolarCity and Zep Solar will help our companies execute a shared vision to bring solar power to the masses,” Miskovsky said.
Solar is in. One wonders at the brevity of time that is left for using fossil fuels. Coal, causing rampant disaster and destruction, is on its way out. Humanity is moving towards an essentially limitless and an super clean source of electricity — sunshine. TreeHugger’s Michael Graham Richard also notes the elegance in rooftop solar simplicity:
One kind that makes a lot of sense is rooftop solar; you have all these roofs — commercial and residential — baking in the sun all day, and right below them are the things that use most of the electricity we generate (appliances, electronics, lighting, factories, offices, etc). Putting solar panels on buildings is just plain elegant.
Michael also shares some exciting SolarCity growth projections and stock growth:
So a growth of 278 MW to 500 MW (let’s take a number in the middle of the range) would represent a growth of 80%. Extremely impressive! Half a gigawatt is a lot for a single company, especially one that doesn’t focus on large-scale solar farms. That probably explains the market’s reaction, with the stock being up more than 20% today:
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