Intel spins off solar-panel manufacturer

Goal is price-parity with other electricity sources

by Tom Stundza -- Purchasing, 6/18/2008 11:48:00 AM

Newly developed technology for use in solar panels is being spun off by Intel for production and sales by a new company to be called SpectraWatt Inc. The new firm will make photovoltaic cells, the primary component in panels that use sunlight to generate electricity.

Engineers in Intel's new-business-initiatives group in Oregon have been working on the effort for several years, led by Andrew Wilson, who will become SpectraWatt's chief executive. The firm will be funded initially by $50 million from a consortium made up of Intel, Cogentrix Energy, PCG Clean Energy & Technology Fund, and Solon, a German solar-panel maker.

Wilson tells the Wall Street Journal the start-up's goal is to reduce the cost and improve the power-generating efficiency of solar cells that are made from silicon. Silicon is in short supply, making its use more costly than other approaches, including "thin film" materials. But silicon-based cells capture more of the sun's energy per square meter than alternatives. SpectraWatt's goal is average electricity price parity in the U.S. in four years.