Green Warrior is a clean energy company, solar project developer, onsite utility provider and technology innovator.

Last week, the management of Green Warrior received a signed term sheet worth $20 million from a capital group located in Atlanta, Georgia. The executive team at Green Warrior is confident that this agreement will fund, which is expected to cover costs for the company's current project pipeline and several pending projects.

 

Green Warrior also pursued a backup letter of intent from another potential capital partner for $20 million. Due to the high likelihood of the first deal closing soon, no further action has been taken with this prospective capital partner.

 

 

The money will be structured as $5 million in equity and $15 million in debt. The latter portion will be used on a drawdown basis at a rate of 7%, which is much lower than the cost of equity from private investors.

The use of proceeds from this injection of capital will fund current and prospective Onsite Energy Systems™ across the country. Green Warrior currently has a robust and growing solar energy pipeline nearing 100MW, with excellent prospects for future growth.

New Hampshire, U.S.A. -- House Republican Cliff Stearns touched off a battle with the White House when he recently told NPR that the United States "can't compete with China to make solar panels."
Apparently, GE wasn't listening.

 

The global energy giant announced late Thursday that it is officially jumping into the solar manufacturing race by building a 400-megawatt facility in Aurora, Colo. The company says the plant will create more than 350 jobs in Colorado, and will begin rolling out cadmium telluride thin-film solar panels in 2012. There will be 100 additional jobs created at its research center in upstate New York.

 

 

The size of the facility would be larger than any existing American solar plant and it would put it in direct competition in the thin-film market with American company First Solar, which has its largest operation in Malaysia, and Solar Frontier, which opened a 1-GW plant this year in Japan.

 

A Show of Confidence

More than anything, this could be seen as an indication that boardrooms have a higher degree of confidence in solar as bankable in the short-term than do many of the legislators who have questioned the industry in the wake of the Solyndra bankruptcy.

 

"With so much capacity out there, the only companies that can compete are the ones with the right technology and the right cost structure," said Matt Guyette, GE's strategy leader for renewables during a conference call Friday. "There's a lot of companies out there with the wrong cost structure. We see it with their quarterly reports and some of the bankruptcies in the past few months.

 

"We've been watching the space for over 10 years, and we've been investing in technologies, and the reason we have not built this plant before is that the technology was not at a point where we were confident that we could compete. We're there now. We're confident and we're scaling up."

 

GE has been a big investor in solar technologies, including eSolar's concentrating solar power business. Earlier this year, GE completed the acquisition of PrimeStar, whose thin-film technology came from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado. The company has also emerged as a leader in the wind business. Now the company, whose technology supplies 25 percent of all electricity globally, is putting its solar stake in the ground on U.S. soil.

"We expect to take the solar technology and drive the same type of growth we've seen in our wind business, which was taking a really non-existent business that was struggling in 2002 into a $6 billion-plus business," said Guyette, who added that GE has 27 gigawatts of installed capacity globally in renewable energy.

 

 

The product

The company said it is working to come out with a larger and lighter panel with conversion efficiency goal of 14 percent or greater at the module level, and that the panels should hit the commercial market by 2013.

 

Guyette said the company expects to be able to compete with Chinese polysilicon module manufacturers as well as other thin-film makers in both established and growing markets. While GE said it isn't ruling out the residential market, the company is clearly looking to move into the large-scale and commercial rooftop spaces that are developing quickly in the United States. Aside from Europe, the expected boom in the Asian market could drive sales and competition. GE, already with deep roots globally, could be positioning to move quickly in these regions.

 

As we head into the holiday season, the Green Warrior team can look back proudly at a long list of incredible accomplishments. We have helped pioneer new ways to make renewable energy more affordable for our customers with our On-site Energy Systems. Our PowerWarrior product helps drive down residential electricity bills—saving money while reducing carbon emissions from energy production. And our PowerSwatch, which will hit the market very soon, puts the power of the sun quite literally in the hands of anyone who owns or uses a mobile electronic device.

 

Our pipeline has grown by a factor of nearly 300% in 2011, thanks to the dedication, drive and expertise of our OES team. Properties under letter of intent or signed Power Purchase Agreement are located from coast to coast and represent substantial revenues for the company—enough to fully fund our current project pipeline and several pending projects.

 

A Look Back at 2011's Top Headlines

February

Green Warrior Sponsors Yellow Ribbon America

Green Warrior is a proud sponsor of Yellow Ribbon America, the nation's premier grassroots organization dedicated to helping our deployed and returning service men and women and their families.

 

Green Warrior is helping to support the efforts of Yellow Ribbon America through direct contributions as well as providing products to use as premiums for Yellow Ribbon America's fundraising efforts. Through our continued commitment to Yellow Ribbon America, Green Warrior hopes to make a positive difference for our hardworking troops, both in the
field and when they return home.

 

Sharp Buys Solar Developer Recurrent Energy

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Sharp Corp (6753.T) said on Tuesday that it plans to buy solar power company Recurrent Energy for up to $305 million, expanding Sharp's footprint in the solar field.

 

Privately-held Recurrent Energy, which is majority owned by Hudson Clean Energy Partners, focuses on small-scale projects of up to 20 megawatts. It has a pipeline of more than 2 gigawatts of projects planned in the United States, Canada and Europe.

 

Sharp is one of the world's biggest solar cell producers. It is counting on Recurrent to help it expand its business in the photovoltaic area, said Sharp executive vice president for overseas business Toshige Hamano in a statement.

 

That includes "extending from developing and producing solar cells and modules to developing and marketing power generation plants," he said.

 

March

Bruce Bowen Joins Green Warrior as General Manager

Bruce comes to Green Warrior as a time-proven executive with years of experience developing highly effective and profitable financial, marketing and business development organizations. Recognized as a gifted and inspirational leader and trainer, Bruce specializes in real estate-related industries where his passion, capabilities and drive directly contribute to dramatic increases in revenue.

 

Bruce's experience includes senior management positions with HomeStore.com, Realtor.com, Welcome Wagon and many others. He managed sales, training, operations and business development teams, and was directly responsible for new product rollouts, key account management, customer relationship development, contract negotiations and order fulfillment.

 

Green Warrior to Introduce PowerWarrior™
Residential and commercial versions drive down electricity costs

PowerWarrior™ is an incredible new product from Green Warrior that reduces the amount of power drawn from your utility by storing electricity that is otherwise lost due to the inherent inefficiencies of electric motors in your home or business. Refrigerators, air conditioners, fans, pool and well pumps, industrial machinery and HVAC systems all draw less current from your utility--and run more efficiently--with PowerWarrior's patent-pending technology.

 

Second Quarter

Project Preview: Cimarron Golf Resort

The award-winning Cimarron Golf Resort, located near Palm Springs, California, is the site of Green Warrior's next On-Site Energy System installation. The first phase of the project has passed the engineering review and calls for 378 solar panels (235 watts ea.) to be installed on the rooftops of the clubhouse and covered patio. The system size for this phase of the project is approximately 89 kilowatts.

 

 

Solar Stocks Skyrocket 37% Since Start of January

By Dr. Nicolas Green, president of Green Warrior

If you follow the market at all, you couldn't miss the stellar performance of solar stocks during the first quarter of 2011. Unrest in oil producing regions, natural disasters followed by crippled nuclear energy production in Japan--grim news for sure, but it just keeps getting sunnier for solar.

 

According to research firm Morningstar, solar stocks were up a staggering 37% since the beginning of the year. Morningstar monitors 145 industries, and solar beat them all--by a long shot. The No. 2 industry was far behind at 22%, and the S&P 500 Index was only up 5.9%.

 

May

Solar Is U.S.'s Fastest Growing Industry, Says SEIA CEO
The industry experienced year-over-year growth in 2010 of 67 percent, based on sales of installed solar, said SEIA spokesperson Monique Hanis. This figure is from SEIA and GTM research's "2010 U.S. Solar Market Insight: Year in Review." "We haven't found any other industry that grew faster," she said.

 

June

Solar Energy Matches iPad Growth Rate

If you keep up with renewable energy news, no doubt you saw the recent article in Bloomberg.com comparing the incredible growth in the solar market to that of the Apple iPad, the most successful tech device launched, ever.

The lead-in for the Bloomberg piece, written by Ben Sills, reads: "Solar-panel installations may rise by more than 50 percent this year, matching Apple Inc. (AAPL)'s 2010 sales increase after launching the iPad, as the technology emerges as a mainstream consumer product."

 

Third Quarter

Green Warrior's OES™ Project Pipeline Nearly Doubles to 44 Megawatts: 120-Acre Solar Farm in New Mexico and 100,000 SF Manufacturing Site in Upstate New York

Green Warrior's sales team has been on a real hot streak this quarter. Among the many potential OES customers identified by the team, two are particularly promising.

 

 

The first is a potential solar farm located on 120 acres of open land near the town of Columbus, New Mexico. The L-shaped parcel contains three square blocks of approximately 1,300 feet on each side.

 

Also in the pipeline is a 100,000 square foot manufacturing facility outside of Buffalo, New York. Green Warrior's team identified this facility as ideal for an OES, given the large, flat roof and high energy demands of the facility. Green Warrior is also investigating this site as a potential candidate for our PowerWarrior solutions, due to the large number of electric motors powering the equipment in the building.

 

The Second Market for Solar Energy: Power Purchase Agreements

Green Warrior's ability to identify, qualify and fully implement our PPA customers has caught the attention of institutional players who are interested in participating in the company's success. Specifically, solar integrators and system installers are negotiating to purchase Green Warrior PPAs. Banks, hedge funds and other financial institutions also realize the long-term potential of these contracts.

 

"I have personally met with several financial institutions who have stated they are prepared to purchase as many solar PPAs as we can provide them," said Bruce Bowen, general manager with Green Warrior.

 

"Lendable" contract

PPAs are considered lendable documents, like a land title, mortgage or loan contract. This allows Green Warrior to leverage the value of the PPAs to obtain debt equity for future ventures—effectively increasing the scope and value of future projects. Revenue generated from the sale of PPAs could be used to develop other products or to fund OESs that have high profit potential.

 

Irvine, CA Onsite Energy System™ Goes Online

Green Warrior's rooftop Onsite Energy System™ on a manufacturing/warehouse facility in Irvine, CA recently got the green light from city and utility officials to go online. The OES, which consists of 188 rack-mounted panels producing 42 kilowatts, is functioning perfectly.

The host facility's owners will save nearly $150,000 in electricity costs over the life of the solar Power Purchase Agreement, with an initial savings of 20% in the first year.

 

 

August

Green Warrior project pipeline growth tops 400% in 2011

Solar experienced 40% market growth going into 2011. But Green Warrior's exceptional growth adds another zero to that percentage. With increased interest in solar markets in general, and our zero-cost On-site Energy Systems™ (OES) in particular, Green Warrior's customers and partners are lining up. Last month, Green Warrior doubled its project pipeline to nearly 44 megawatts. Last week, we doubled it again.

 

Google pumps $280 million into SolarCity

Fund for residential PV projects is nation's largest

SolarCity and Google announced the creation of a new $280 million fund to finance residential solar projects. The Google-backed fund is the first collaboration between the Internet giant and the nation's leading solar power and energy efficiency service provider, and represents Google's largest investment to date in the clean energy sector. The fund is SolarCity's largest project financing fund and the largest residential solar fund created in the U.S. SolarCity has now created 15 project funds with seven different partners to finance $1.28 billion in solar projects.

 

September

Falling Prices May Wean Solar Off Subsidies, Towards Grid Parity
Recurrent Energy CEO Arno Harris pointed out the upside to a down solar market. "A 70 percent decline in solar panel prices over the last 24 months has many in the industry forecasting a brutal shakeout ahead. I'd argue that this picture misses an important point. It's myopic to focus solely on earnings of one segment of the industry. There's a silver lining for the world in declining solar prices: cheaper solar power."