First Solar Buys GE’s Intellectual Property
For a couple of years now, General Electric has been looking to make serious investments in solar energy research and development. In 2011 PrimeStar Solar and announced that they would use that company’s resources to begin manufacture of solar panels in Colorado. However, the enterprise came to an unexpected end yesterday when solar power rival, First Solar, purchased all relevant solar power intellectual property rights from GE for $84 million. First Solar has long been one of the dominant leaders when it comes to developing alternative energy (particularly that of solar power) and their purchase of GE’s IP has propelled them to nearly indisputable levels of control over the solar industry. Lest you think that GE will be out of the solar game completely, GE has included in the sales agreement, a contract that will allow First Solar to produce specially branded GE solar panels for the megacorporation, which GE will then be able to sell to consumers. GE’s original plans for production were delayed after the company chose to focus on further technological refinement rather than production of materials and ultimately it was decided that the technology would be put to better and more effective use by a more experienced solar energy company like First Solar rather than through the relatively inexperienced GE. First Solar is thrilled with the purchase and believes that it will make a quick profit off of its recent purchased, which is especially good news since the company (while still highly profitable) has been experiencing a decline in profits, with profits for this quarter being placed at $33.6 million from a much higher $111 million during the same time last year.
The First Solar deal indicates possible future growth in the solar power market now that an incredibly experienced corporation like First Solar is being backed by a wealthy and enormously powerful corporation like GE. While it is not currently known what sorts of intellectual property was purchased from GE, it can be safely assumed that these properties can be vastly important as they were themselves originally purchased form PrimeStar, a competitor with First Solar, by GE. Now that First Solar has access to the properties of a former rival, its chances for expansion must be truly propitious. I’m not naïve enough to think this will ignite some sort of revolution in the production of alternative energies, but at the very least it offers up the intriguing possibility of more dramatic increase in the use of solar technologies. Perhaps a couple years with GE’s and First Solar’s current alliance will propel the US to higher levels of solar energy production from its currently dismal placing (especially when you consider that the US is, on average, one of the sunniest and therefore best places to utilize solar power but it lags behind other less sunny countries, like the perpetually grey Germany, in terms of solar power production). GE has had a fairly reliable track record of increasing sales for new technologies throughout its long corporate lifespan and so working with a company like First Solar should, hopefully, yield similar results.
Kevin James
Intern at
JAFARI LAW GROUP®, INC.