Photovoltaics

Honda’s entry into the US Solar Energy Industries Association is yet another example of a growing attraction for PV among major corporations. But what is driving the trend?

Eon, Google, Honda and QVC may not be names you traditionally associate with the solar industry. For now, that is. All have made inroads in the industry, though. And the signs are these are among the first of many major corporations that could soon be dabbling in PV.

American Honda Motor formalised its relationship with the sector last month by joining the US Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

In a press statement, the vice president of the company’s Environmental Business Development Office, Steven Center, claimed the move was motivated by a desire to reduce carbon emissions.

“Honda strongly believes in the importance of addressing global climate change by reducing CO2 emissions from home, business and transportation energy use,” he said. “Wider deployment of solar is a key part of the solution.”

Cynics could view the move as a nifty PR manoeuvre, but as it happens Honda has a fairly decent pedigree in the solar industry.

Solar power retailer

Quite apart from gimmicks such as a PV-powered car that won the World Solar Challenge in Australia in 1993 and 1996, the carmaker has recently become a bona fide solar power retailer in the US through a USD$65m deal with SolarCity.

The tie-up was prompted by attempts to woo buyers for Honda’s Fit electric vehicle (EV) but in interviews Center has indicated the auto firm sees a wider opportunity to cash in on residential solar sales.

The utility E.ON, which took a place on the SEIA’s board of directors last month, also has good reasons to be upping its involvement in the PV market.

“E.ON is expanding its share of renewable energy projects in our company’s global power generation portfolio,” explained the company’s North America chairman, Steve Trenholm, in a SEIA press note.

“In joining SEIA’s board, we’re underscoring our commitment to increasing the deployment of solar energy in the US and around the world.”

Energy provider

As an energy provider, E.ON has every reason to be interested in PV. Back in 2009 the utility was dabbling in thin film within the French market and the utility’s web site currently claims a project pipeline of more than 600MW, mainly in France and Italy.

It is a different matter for Google, though. The search engine behemoth barely needs the cash that a solar power plant could yield. Yet that has not stopped it from becoming a major investor in PV projects.

Quite apart from important wind energy investments and a major stake in BrightSource, the plant developer, Google has invested $5m in a PV plant in Brandenburg, Germany, and $280m in a SolarCity fund for US residential installations.

Google has also put $75m into a US Clean Power Finance fund for residential PV, $94m into four projects built by Recurrent Energy near Sacramento, California, and most recently $12m into the 94MW Jasper Power Project in Northern Cape, South Africa.

Financial sense

Google declined to comment to PV Insider but in a corporate blog post Rick Needham, director of energy and sustainability, said: “When we consider investing in a renewable energy project, we focus on two key factors.

“First, we only pursue investments that we believe make financial sense. Second, we look for projects that have transformative potential—that is, projects that will bolster the growth of the renewable energy industry and move the world closer to a clean energy future.”

What emerges from all these instances is that corporate interest in solar is increasingly not just a matter of corporate greenwashing, but also a sound investment decision.

Indeed, if the wind power market is anything to go by then there could be significant fiscal benefits to investing within particular jurisdictions.

Marc Muhlenbach, a wind energy analyst with IHS Emerging Energy Research, says: “You had a lot [of investments] in Germany because there would be an exemption of tax.”

Nevertheless, surmises Gary Mull, chief executive of the online marketplace Solar Exchange, the prime motivation for non-solar corporations to move into PV is still to do with establishing green credentials. This is not necessarily a bad thing.

Socially responsible

“We see Google and others because of their socially responsible policies,” he says. “They are big consumers of energy. I believe that direction is a good direction.

“They have the wherewithal to really perpetuate market shifts with technology like ours, which is disruptive, but in a good way. I think that is well aligned with the way Google looks at how they can change the world with technology and with the resources available to them.”

He adds: “Will we see more of it? I would imagine we will over time.

“It’s good for the solar industry because the more corporate responsibility there is behind some of these initiatives, the more rapidly I believe that solar technology will be embraced and utilised as a sustainable energy source.”