Why: Extremely large-scale production of solar panels is reducing the technology's cost.

Key innovation: Developed its own solar cells and equipment for manufacturing them cheaply.

Technology:

Suntech is the world’s largest producer of crystalline-silicon solar panels, the most common type. It specializes in multicrystalline cells, which produce somewhat less power per square meter than single-­crystal cells but yield a competitive price per watt because the materials cost less. The company’s current generation of solar cells has broken an efficiency record for multicrystalline cells that had stood for 15 years; one key to the accomplishment was to increase the amount of light the cells absorb by texturing their surface and decreasing the thickness of electron-conducting wires.

Market:

Suntech’s cells are efficient enough to be practical for commercial and residential rooftops, where space is limited. But they’re also inexpensive enough to be selected for large, utility-scale installations.

Strategy:

Based in Wuxi, China, Suntech recently opened a new plant in Arizona that will produce panels for the flood of new U.S. solar projects being funded by the federal stimulus package. The facility's annual capacity is 30 megawatts, but in response to strong demand the company is planning to expand it to 50 megawatts in 2011 and says it may eventually produce as much as 120 megawatts per year.

Challenges and Next Steps:

To optimize production of its latest line of highly efficient solar cells, the company is outfitting its manufacturing facilities with equipment of its own design.