Startup Suniva said Thursday it has scored a contract to sell $480 million worth of solar cells to Indian solar panel manufacturer Titan Energy Systems.
The deal puts total sales for Atlanta-based Suniva close to $1 billion through 2013, and the company hasn't even started commercial production.
In August, Suniva inked a $500 million deal to provide cells to German panel maker Solon from 2009 through 2012.
Suniva said its latest contract calls for the company to provide cells to Titan from 2009 through 2013.
Founded in 2006, Suniva claims its technology can squeeze more electric power out of its solar cells while pushing down the manufacturing cost (see Suniva Gets Ready to Roll and Solar Startup Suniva Snags $50M).
Offering little details, the company said the secret sauce lies in part with its cell design and manufacturing processes. The deals with Titan and Solon suggest a vote of confidence in Suniva 's technology.
The company said it would begin shipments from its first 32-megawatt line during the fourth quarter of this year.
Suniva also said it plans on expanding its manufacturing by adding more than 130 megawatts of additional annual capacity during the next two years.
While most companies announce such contracts that specify the solar cell shipment volumes in terms of megawatts or gigawatts, Suniva isn't disclosing the information from its deals with Titan or Solon.
But, Greentech Media's estimated calculations – which use analyst figures that suggest the current price of a solar cell is about $2.50 per watt – Suniva is providing 192 megawatts of solar cells to Titan.
Larger solar cell deals have been announced by other companies recently. Solar panel maker Solaria announced in July it had agreed to buy 1.35 gigawatts of solar cells from Q-Cells.