SunPower Corp. (NSDQ: SPWR) said this week it has bought its third solar integrator, an Australian company called Solar Sales.
Solar Sales, founded in 1983, is one of Australia’s oldest photovoltaic companies, according to the announcement.
While the country has not been a major solar player so far – it had a total of 70.3 megawatts of solar capacity installed at the end of 2006, compared with 1.5 gigawatts installed in Germany at that time, according to the International Energy Agency – Australia has introduced several solar programs the could boost its profile.
Last year, the country launched a $75 million Solar Cities program to install thousands of solar panels in five solar cities. It also has a A$31 million rebate program, a A$265 million program that offers rebates for remote power-generation projects and is investment A$55.6 million to accelerate the commercialization of renewable technologies (see Solar Buzz’ fast facts).
SunPower in December said it was buying Solar Solutions, an integrator and distributor in Italy (see SunPower Gets Some Italian Sun). It also bought PowerLight, a U.S. commercial solar integrator, for $265 million in 2006.
The company didn’t disclose financial details about the Solar Sales deal.