Updated at 1:57 p.m., Friday, November 17, 2006
SunPower buys PowerLight for $265 million
Advertiser Staff
PowerLight Corp., a Berkeley, California-based provider of large-scale solar power systems that has a Waikoloa office, has agreed to a $265 million buyout by San Jose, Calif.-based SunPower Corp., a maker of solar cells and panels.SunPower said the acquisition will help it accelerate the reduction of solar power costs so that systems are competitive with electricity provided by utilities.
PowerLight's installations include a 97 kilowatt system at Waikoloa Village on the Big Island that powers a golf cart facility. During the day excess power produced by the installation is fed into Hawaiian Electric Light Co's grid. The daytime energy production is effectively "banked" and can be drawn against at night when electric golf carts are recharged, PowerLight said in a news release.
PowerLight's second power system on an administration building there meets 70 percent of the energy needs of Waikoloa's offices, clubhouse, swimming pool pumps, and restaurant complex, PowerLight said.
The sale of PowerLight to San Jose, California-based SunPower is expected to close early next year pending regulator and shareholder approvals.
