The sun, a source of unlimited, sustainable, renewable energy, it is no wonder why solar energy systems is being used worldwide from country’s in poverty to homeowners in the United States. From large scale utility plants to urban communities, more solar energy systems are being used to generate electricity for many different reasons. Whether it’s saving our planet, saving money, or increasing the value of a home, these are just a few reasons why solar energy is growing. Over the past three decades SunPower Corporation has been able to improve the technology in renewable energy to generate the most energy from the sun. SunPower has been leading the quest to improve lives and our world for a better future one day at a time. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration in September of 2014, utility-scale solar power plants generated over 12,303 gigawatts- hours of electricity compared to September 2013which generated 6,048 gigawatts-hours. This is enough energy to power 1,513,703 average U.S. homes, (Danko, 2014).
With the trend of solar energy and clean carbon emissions, the numbers of solar companies has risen. From manufacturing to installing, having a solar energy system has been easier and cost effective especially for homeowners. To motivate homeowners to start using solar energy system, local and state wide government has offered many incentives such as, “the eight-year extension of the Investment Tax Credit for renewable energy that was part of the 2008 Bush economic bailout package; state renewable portfolio standards; the Obama administration's pro-solar policies, including friendly environmental reviews, cash grants in lieu of tax credits and guaranteed loans; and the steep decline in the price of PV (photovoltaic), (Danko, 2014).”
How Solar Energy Works
Solar Panels that create electricity are called Photovoltaic Panels or PV Panels for short. Each panel is a make-up of a grid composed of thin slices of a semiconductor material, usually silicon, laid flat and sandwiched inside the weatherized rectangular PV paned. When exposed to sunlight, the silicon wafers free extra electrons. These electrons are collected inside the panel in a positive and negatively charged grid of metal wiring. As the electrons are freed and are directed along the metal grid you end up with an electric current.
The solar panels are laid out in an array with each panel facing the sun in the same angle and plane, thereby duplicating the current from panel to panel. As the sun’s power is in Direct Current (DC), and our homes and businesses run on Alternating Current (AC), the electricity from the solar panels runs to an inverter, which converts the DC power of the sun to usable AC power. Different solar panels produce different watts of electricity, and obviously, the more solar panels you have the more electricity your system will produce. When a solar energy system produces more power than being used, the extra power gets sent to the utility grid. The extra power will cause the electric meter to spin backwards and the utility company is forced to by the power from the homeowner. This process is called net meter. Below is an illustration of how solar panels are connected to the inverters. (Hotpurpleenrgy.com, 2014).

About SunPower Corporation SunPower Corporation has been in the solar industry for over three decades founded by Tom Warner. With more than 200 patients for solar technology, SunPower Corporation has become world's highest efficiency solar panels featuring SunPower Maxeon cell technology. With their Maxeon technology, SunPower has been able to think outside the box by innovating ways to use the unique design. Two major projects which separated SunPower Maxeon technology against their leading competitors are one, “Setting Sail with SunPower and Reaching New Heights” (SunPower.com, 20014). Setting Sail with SunPower departing from Monaco, taking an epic journey without a drop of fuel. By installing over 5,000 square feet of solar panels and becoming the first solar electric vehicle to circumnavigate the globe, “Planet Solar, a massive catamaran equipped with our Maxeon solar cells, withstood the harshest conditions to sail around the globe, breaking two world records. Three years later, it topped its own record by four days, (SunPower.com, 2014)”. Below are the pictures of the two vessels powered by SunPower solar energy system. The second major project is called “Reaching New Heights”. SunPower set the bar high (literally) when they took a solar powered plane up to 27,887 feet high, which made history by crossing the United States without a drop of fuel. In 2015, SunPower will attempt to make history again by setting flight around the world by only using their Maxeon technology and the sun as a power source. SunPower believes that the sun belongs to everybody, and they are committed to unlock the energy and the freedom it provides by envision the power of the sun. Their goal is to change the way our world is powered. SunPower Humanitarian Advocate Besides manufacturing solar panel energy systems, SunPower is also an advocate in providing energy in a small town in the Philippines. There are over 10,000 people living in the Smokey Mountain dumpsite in the Philippines. In this part of the country light is a luxury. The living condition is much harder to strive for a better future. So, SunPower started a program call Solar Service Station (3S), which is a large steel container station that provides rechargeable lanterns and hands them out to over 300 families. Once the charge is out, the people living in the Smokey Mountain dumpsite are able to exchange the lanterns for chargeable ones. This program has impacted over 1,000 lives and provided 7 jobs for the community, giving hope for a better future. SunPower has created a non-profit organization called SunPower Foundation ™. The goal for this organization is to create and to help create and motivate solar energy leaders through education, awareness, and participation in community solar energy projects and programs. The SunPower Foundation is passionate to help spread the word about solar energy and the impact it will produce to help reduce carbon emissions and build a better future for our planet. Country’s like Africa, Brazil, Chile, Kenya, Mexico, United Kingdom, and the United States have started participating in this program. Preserving precious land, climate change, global poverty, and aiding to those in need with medical help, the SunPower Foundation has been able to simply bring clean, renewable power to the poorest people in need, (SunPower Foundation.org, 2014).
Brief description of SunPower operations
Based in San Jose California, SunPower Corporation designs and manufacture solar energy panels for residential, commercial, and utility-scale solar power plants. SunPower is the leader in high performance solar products with their unique innovation that produces more energy and last longer than any other solar panels in the industry. They offer a 25 years warranty (if needed) on their solar panels versus the 10 year warranty from on the solar companies. SunPower has made a named for them when they introduced their patent design solar panel called The Maxeon cell Module.
The Maxeon cell module has led SunPower to become one of the few American made products to stand for what it believes, which is high product, high quality product, and long lasting. With its innovated design, Maxeon solar panels absorb more sunlight by eliminating the traditional lines of metal paste that reflects sunlight and corrode over time. Maxeon cell is designed with solid copper backing, which is the foundation of each cell. The thick copper lining adds strength and limits any corrosion versus all other cells that have metal paste. This provides no strength or support to any changes in climate and is prone to higher rate of corrosion. And last, the Maxeon cells are connected to each other by thick connectors, which allow the solar cell to expand and contract from any temperature changes. Below is a visual description of what Maxeon cell module is compared to traditional cell module. (SunPower.com. 2014).

Tom Warner SunPower co-founder said in a press release: "With the new Maxeon solar cells, offering efficiencies of up to 24 percent, SunPower continues to lead the industry in technology innovation, delivering to its customers the highest efficiency, most reliable solar panels for guaranteed performance, (Gifford, 2012).”
SunPower has made it easy for homeowners to find information on solar. They offer free consultation on the design layout of the panels, the amount of panels need based on the kilowatt used on a daily basis, a proposal, and an estimate of future saving. This will allow homeowners the opportunity to shop around other solar companies to find better product and price. However, they are confident that the homeowners will return to SunPower because of their high solar production, which is 75 percent higher over the first 25 years and their warranty.
SunPower Certified Installers
Since SunPower is a nationwide manufacture company, installing their product has to be done by a SunPower local certified installer. These certified installers are usually solar companies who work only with SunPower product and are very knowledgeable with their performance. They also handle all paperwork to start the process which includes the development of permit plans for approval with the Planning and Building and Safety Department and any HOA approval. They make sure that all placements of solar panels receive the most sunlight to generate the most energy.
They also handle all paperwork with the local energy company (i.e. Southern California Edison (SEC)), with the transaction of releasing the customer from their energy grid and reversing the energy meter. What this mean is, if the customer has any unused energy, that energy will be sent back to the grid or to SEC and will receive a check for reimbursement. SunPower as well as the certified installer will help the customer find any local or nationwide incentives to help with any purchase of solar product. This process takes time to find, however having the government pay up to 30 percent of the material is well worth the time to search for these incentives.
Brief discussion of top executives and Board of Directors of SunPower Corporation
SunPower was co-founded by Dr. Richard Swanson in the 1970’s during the oil crisis. Since the oil crisis was a major issue at the time, Dr. Swanson was trying to figure out how to reduce the use of oil and use other natural resource to produce energy. Solar cells were a new innovation in the 70’s and was being used on satellites. In which he became intrigued of the concept and began a 40 year quest to engineer solar cell to be more cost-effective. Dr. Swanson’s effort has helped SunPower become one of the leaders in residential, commercial, and utility-scale in solar power production.
In 2003 Tom Werner was hired as the new Chief Executive Officer of SunPower. In 2010, Mr. Werner became not only the chief executive officer of SunPower, but also the president, and a chairman for the board of director. Before joining SunPower, Mr. Werner was chief executive officer for Silicon Light Machine, Inc., a subsidiary of Cypress Semiconductor Corporation. He held that position from 2001 to 2003. Prior from Silicon Light Machine, in 1998 to 2001, Mr. Werner was vice president and general manager for Business Connectivity Group of 3Com Corp., a network solutions company. He has two bachelor’s degrees, one in industrial engineering from the University of Wisconsin Madison, and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Marquette University. He also has a master degree in business administration from George Washington University (us.sunpower.com,2014).
Important events and transaction SunPower has encounter in the last five years. Thought out the last five years SunPower Corporation has striven to become the leader in the solar industry by its constant innovation and new partnerships. From the dedication of President Obama solar power plant to, the merge with SunLight and Tenesol SA, SunPower has been building recognition to innovated new ideas to use the sun has a main source of energy. They are also building recognition by their Samaritan acts with the 3S project in the Philippines and their strategy of driving for a brighter future and sustainable future for all. Below is a time line of events and transaction SunPower has gone through. This information was provided from SunPower.com.
2007
* SunPower begins volume production of its record breaking high efficiency solar cell, averaging 22.4% conversion efficiency. * SunPower acquires PowerLight, resulting in a vertically integrated company serving the residential, commercial and utility-scale power plant markets. * A second manufacturing facility (Fab 2) with 330 MW capacity rating on 10 lines, comes on line in the Philippines.
2008
* SunPower announces a world-record monocrystalline polysilicon prototype solar cell with efficiency of 23.4%.
2009
* President Obama dedicates a 25 MW SunPower solar power plant system at Florida Power & Light’s Desoto installation. * Planet Solar chooses SunPower high-efficiency solar cells to power the world's largest solar catamaran.
2010
* SunPower announces a world-record monocrystalline polysilicon prototype cell with efficiency of 24.2%.
2011
* Total SA and SunPower partner to create a new global leader in the solar industry. * SunPower® Maxeon™ solar cell technology powers Solar Impulse, a prototype solar airplane, that for the first time in aviation history succeeds in flying for 26 consecutive hours powered only by solar energy. * SunPower launches the C7 Tracker which concentrates the sun's power seven times to achieve the lowest levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for utility-scale solar power plants.
2012
* SunPower acquires French solar company Tenesol SA, further increasing our global footprint.
SunPower assessment of their Financials In the last 5 years, SunPower’s revenue has been increasing every year. Whether it’s their marketing strategies for saving the planet or with the merges of other solar companies like Tenesol, SunPower has been growing within the industry. Wells Fargo, Union Banks, and private investors has helped finance SunPower’s clients by providing loan options for purchasing or leasing of solar energy systems. Europe and South Korea has also been involved with the transaction of third- party investors. This process is called Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), (SunPower.com, 2014). I believe this has helped SunPower’s revenue grow of the years. So, with the rise of revenue, the cost of revenue and expenses increase as well. The cost of revenue consist primarily of solar equipment such as solar panels, mounting system, inventors, and subcontractor cost. Cost of revenue varies on the size and the amount of project SunPower accomplish each year. Operational expense consist of research, and development expense, sales, general and administrative expense, purchase in process research and development expense and impairment of acquisition-related intangible assets, (SunPower.com, 2014). Below is SunPower’s balance sheet from 2006-2013.

(SunPower.com, 2012.)

SunPower.com, 2012. Below is a financial comparison of SunPower Corporation to its leading competitor, First Solar. From the description of the Direct Competitors Comparison chart, First Solar is a smaller (from the number of employee) company compared to SunPower. However, the Market Capitalization from First Solar is larger than SunPower, a difference of $1.3 billion. The earnings before interest and tax (EBITDA) also has a significant difference between SunPower and First Solar, with a difference of $263.48million. Overall First Solar has a larger amount of revenue and net income compared to SunPower. (finance.yahoo.com,2014.)
SunPower Stock Market Performance According to SunPower’s annual reports of 2009, in April of 1985 SunPower was incorporated by Dr. Richard Swanson in order to develop commercialize high efficiency solar technology. In 2002, Cypress Semiconductor Corporation or “Cypress” invested a large amount in SunPower Corporation. November 2004, Cypress had acquired 100 percent of ownership of all outstanding shares of SunPower capital stocks. By November of 2005, SunPower reincorporated in Delaware, creating two class of common stock, class A common stock and class B common stock. That same year, SunPower held an initial public offering for class A common stock and Cypress held all outstanding shares of class B common stock. By September of 2008, Cypress had distributed all of the class B common stock to its shareholder in a form of a pro rata dividend. As a result the class B common stock traded publicly and was listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under “SPWRB”. Class A common stock was also listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under “SPWRA”, which led to the discontinuation of Cypress being the majority ownership subsidiary of SunPower Corporation, (SunPower.com, 2014). In November of 2011, class A common stock and class B common stock was suspended on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, in which all trading for SunPower was listed under “SPWR”, (sunpowercorp.com, 2014).
In the past 5 years SunPower Corporation has had its up’s and down in the Nasdaq Global Select Market. In 2012 during the third quarter, SunPower had its lowest price of common stock at a price of $3.71, (sunpower.com, 2014). The reasons why the stocks for SunPower was low during 2012, has many factors. One factor that cause the fall of SunPower prices was, the shortage of global silicon, (Konrad, T. 2012). Another reason why the price of SunPower was at its lowest was due to the budget crisis in Europe and the increase in tariffs from the US that cut sales, (The Oxen Group, 2012). Also countries like Italy have cut incentives to local and state government to the usage and purchase of solar energy systems, (Group, O. 2012). (SunPower.com, 2012.)
This year SunPower have reached its highest price at $14.06, (finance.yahoo.com/echarts, 2014). According to Zack Equality Research, one reason why SunPower stock was high for 2014 is, SunPower has teamed up with Admirals Banks to launch a preferred-interest loan program for homeowners seeking to install solar energy system. Admirals Bank will provide SunPower a $200 million loan for the next two for homeowners in the United States. A homeowner is able to receive at the highest a $60,000 loan granted a credit approval. Below is the last five years of SunPower stock price.(finance.yahoo.com,2014.) Below are the past five years of SunPower Corporation “SPWR” (blue line) stock prices compare to First Solar “FSLR” (red line) and the S&P 500 (black line). It seems like in the beginning of 2010 First Solar had a higher price in stock than SunPower, an average of $100 to $140 per share. In February of 2011 First Solar stock was at its highest peak at $168.22 and dramatically inclined to $11.77 the June of 2012, the lowest it has ever been. First Solar gradually increased its stock over the past three years, but never really recovered from drop of 2012.
SunPower in the other hand had a slow start in 2010 compare to First Solar. SunPower stock was at $11.22 versus First Solar at $113.82. In the middle of 2011 just like First Solar, the stock prices for all three SunPower, First Solar, and the S&P decrease, due perhaps to the upcoming elections for 2012. Just like First Solar, SunPower had reached its lowest price during the month of June 2012 closing at $3.83. Since then SunPower’s stocks has increase reaching its highest price ever in June of 2014 closing at $ 40.27. Since then SunPower’s stock has had its ups and downs, slowing declining reaching at average price around $23.77 (finance.yahoo.com,2014.).

My assessment of important issues the SunPower will face in the coming year.

Some issues SunPower will face in the coming year that will impact the company will be the partnership with Admiral Banks. The partnership with Admirals Banks will provide more opportunity for homeowners to finance solar energy system without the assail of paying in full. The average cost of a solar Energy system can range from $13,000 to $45,000 for an average family, also depending on the kilowatt used on a daily basis, so having the options of a loan for a solar energy system will increase the attention of homeowner or home buyers. Another issue SunPower will face in the coming year that will impact the company, but in a negative manner will be the foreign market. According to the China Economic Review 2014, China is the world largest market for solar equipment, beating Germany last year. Myself, working for Hot Purple Energy in Palm Springs, (a solar distributor company), I encounter the loss of clients or sales due to China made solar panels. Yes, one can argue that their product is cheaper, but it is not as efficient and durable as SunPower solar energy panels. However, when describing the difference between both products, it seems that the clients are more interest of cost of product than the performance of the product.
My assessment of the SunPower’s prospects going forward and an investment From the research I’ve done, I would wait a little longer for SunPower’s stock to drop. Currently SunPower stocks have been dropping at about $1 to $1.25 per day during this past week. Since the holidays are coming, I expect stocks to drop even more. The Beta for SunPower is high at 2.54, meaning it is a high risk of investment. However, according yahoo analyst estimates, SunPower’s earnings will increase in 2015 by .09 percent from 2014. However, their revenue will decrease in 2015 by $11 million. Since this is just an estimate, I would still hold to buy, since there are more factors than just sales that would affect the price of stocks. Will the state and local government issue more incentives for the purchase of solar energy systems, or will China’s market impact American made products? These are the type of questions that will affect the price of stock.

(finance.yahoo.com,2014.)

Reference

Danko, P. (2014, December 1). US solar power generation up by whopping 100%. Retrieved December 2, 2014, from http://www.cnbc.com/id/102232713#. http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts? s=SPWR+Interactive#%7B%22range%22%3A%225y%22%2C%22scale%22%3A%22linear%22%7D
Gifford, J. (2012, March 28). SunPower introduces 24 percent Maxeon Solar Cell. Retrieved November 30, 2014, from http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/sunpower-introduces-24-percent-maxeon-solar-cell_100006249/#axzz3KaEjwELR
Group, O. (2012, September 21). Retrieved December 10, 2014, from http://seekingalpha.com/article/881551-solar-companies-will-continue-weakness-through-october
How China plans to rewrite the rules of solar energy. (2014, October 9). Retrieved December 11, 2014, from http://www.chinaeconomicreview.com/how-china-plans-rewrite-rules-solar-energy
Konrad, T. (2012, March 13). More Pain Ahead for Solar Stocks. Retrieved December 3, 2014, from http://seekingalpha.com/article/432141-more-pain-ahead-for-solar-stocks
Solar Energy 101 | Palm Springs Panels | Hot Purple Energy. (n.d.). Retrieved December 8, 2014, from http://hotpurpleenergy.com/solar-energy-101/
SunPower Foundation solar education, solar energy projects and programs, global renewable energy, solar advocates. (n.d.). Retrieved December 6, 2014, from http://www.sunpower.org/whatwedo.php (n.d.). Retrieved December 9, 2014, from http://us.sunpowercorp.com/cs/ContentServer?c=SP_Content_C&relID=85139&pagename=sp_tt/SP_Content_C/sub_page_newsroom&cid=1293430274084
Zack Equality Research, SunPower Collaborates with Admirals Bank for Solar Funding. (2014, June 17). Retrieved December 8, 2014, from http://finance.yahoo.com/news/sunpower-collaborates-admirals-bank-solar-162504839.html