eSolar partners Sanmina-SCI to cut concentrated solar power costs

Two global companies, eSolar and Sanmina-SCI (Nasdaq: SANM), announced that they have partnered to leverage their respective expertise in solar thermal energy solutions, local content-optimized component design, and manufacturing to offer industry-leading cost and value for utility-scale power plants.

eSolar, the leading provider of modular, scalable concentrating solar power (CSP) plant technology, and Sanmina-SCI, a leading integrated manufacturing services company that produces some of the world’s most complex products, will work to optimize eSolar’s solar collector system product offering – a system already deployed in operating CSP facilities.

"Sanmina-SCI’s global reach perfectly match eSolar’s demonstrated advantage in simple, reliable hardware and industry-leading system software. As we continue to pursue large-scale solar projects worldwide, we need a partner who will optimize our products for manufacturability, scalability and cost-efficiency," said Gary Breton, Senior Vice President of Operations for eSolar. "Their expertise will enable manufacturing cost reductions allowing eSolar to become even more cost-competitive."

eSolar’s modular and scalable CSP plant design utilizes sun tracking equipment that is easy to install, plus can be produced in high-quality factories and quickly assembled with simple tools and local customer workforces. These heliostats track the sun with high precision and reflect the sun’s heat to a tower-mounted receiver, which boils water to create steam. This steam powers a traditional turbine and generator to produce clean electricity. Sanmina-SCI will bring their manufacturing and supply chain design input to the table via a joint engineering effort with eSolar designers.

"eSolar is making an important contribution in the global quest to produce renewable energy cost-competitively, and we are privileged to be selected to support this design effort," said Tom Clawson, Executive Vice President, Industrial Markets for Sanmina-SCI. "We’re pleased our skills will be used to design some of the key building blocks for eSolar’s utility-grade solar projects and play a role in increasing power generation from clean sources of energy."

Sanmina-SCI Corporation is a leading electronics contract manufacturer serving the fastest-growing segments of the global Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) market. Recognized as a technology leader, Sanmina-SCI provides end-to-end manufacturing solutions, delivering superior quality and support to OEMs primarily in the communications, defense and aerospace, industrial and semiconductor systems, medical, multimedia, enterprise computing and storage, automotive and clean technology sectors. Sanmina-SCI has facilities strategically located in key regions throughout the world.

eSolar was founded in 2007 to develop modular and scalable solar thermal power plant technology. The eSolar solution marries a low-impact, pre-fabricated form factor with advanced computer software engineering to meet the demand for reliable and cost competitive solar energy. eSolar is based in Burbank, Calif.

www.esolar.com