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Hanergy acquires US solar energy firm Alta Devices

By Chen Boyuan: 0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, August 13, 2014

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China's leading solar panel manufacturer Hanergy announced on Aug. 13 that it has completed the acquisition of the U.S. Silicon Valley-based thin-film solar technology company Alta Devices.

Li Hejun, founder and chairman of Hanergy Holding, delivers a speech at the signing ceremony that cement the acquisition of Alta Devices on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2014 in Beijing. [Photo by Chen Boyuan / China.org.cn]

The acquisition of Alta Devices marks Hanergy's fourth overseas takeover, after the company bought out Solibro, MiaSolé and Q-Cell, showing the Chinese clean energy giant's continuing ambition to seek cutting-edge technologies from across the world.

The deal will empower Hanergy with gallium arsenide (GaAs) thin-film technology, known to have the highest photovoltaic (PV) conversion rate – 28.8 percent for single-junction cells and 30.8 percent for double-junction cells, according to the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

The rate is eight percent higher than monocrystalline cells and 10 percent higher than polysilicon cells. According to Hanergy, GaAs technology is 2-3 times more efficient than regular thin-film PV cells.

The acquisition will make Alta Devices Hanergy's fully funded subsidiary. The Sunnyvale-based company will retain its original staff, including its management and its R&D team – the essence of the deal. In the longer run, the takeover is expected to facilitate the launch of Hanergy's factory in California.

Both Hanergy and Alta Devices claimed the takeover was "a result of a shared vision for the future of solar power," as Christopher Norris, president and CEO of Alta, said at the signing ceremony on Wednesday.

Norris is confident that the acquisition will help Alta Devices, a start-up company with less than 50 people, turn lab achievements to actual line products.

However, neither company wanted to disclose the cost of the takeover, or how the two parties managed to cement the deal from the preliminary contacts, deeming such information "corporate secrets" and "too complicated to explain in just a few words."

Li Hejun, founder and chairman of Hanergy, was optimistic that the takeover would be a driving force for the company – also a dedicated thin-film solar panel maker – in seeking a greater market share globally. He said Alta's thin-film technology is able to generate more power in low-light conditions, compared with average products in the market.

"The cooperation with Alta will effectively enhance Hanergy's thin-film PV technology, which will consolidate Hanergy's status as a global leader in PV industry," Li said.

Hanergy has been keeping a high profile about its technology as well as financial capability in recent years in nudging further into the PV industry, as the company, which is based in Beijing, has a history of developing hydropower and wind power solutions.

Hydropower is regarded as Hanergy's constant and stable "cash machine" and a partnership to fall back onto. Jin'anqiao Hydropower Station, located in southwest China's Yunnan Province, has an installed capacity of 2.4 million KW, 10 percent larger than China's wenll-known Gezhouba Dam and 30 percent larger than the Hoover Dam in the United States.

While most Chinese PV makers have been frequently facing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy probes launched by the United States and the European Union, Hanergy was never affected, because "those probes only targeted crystalline silicon products, whereas Hanergy only produces thin-film cells," a source familiar with the matter said.

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