If this was true in 2008, it's even more true in 2016
"Almost every company in the electronics and semiconductor industry is going to try to figure out how to get into solar--it's going to be that big of an industry,"
Looking for a solar play The Intel-SpectraWatt deal highlights the deepening cross-over between IT companies and the clean-technology sector.
IBM on Monday announced plans to enter the CIGS solar cell arena by forming a partnership with a Japanese semiconductor equipment maker. It's one of four solar efforts at IBM, which has a companywide green technology initiative.
Hewlett-Packard earlier this month licensed transparent electronics to a solar concentrator start-up, Xtreme Energetics.
Like IBM and HP, Intel has expertise in semiconductor materials and capital-intensive, high-volume manufacturing. Those same skills are required in the solar photovoltaics business, which is growing rapidly--on the order of 40 percent to 50 percent--from soaring demand.
SpectraWatt's Wilson said that Intel's silicon expertise translates in the solar cell industry, even though there are significant differences in the end product.
"It sure looks like solar will be consuming a lot of silicon so it's another thing that we need to understand," he said. "We (also) see a lot of overlap with respect to the research directions of the technology."
Solar expert Travis Bradford, who is president of the Prometheus Institute, said that Intel's move into solar is not surprising, given the rapid growth of solar energy.
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