SolarWorld hones sales advantages ahead of production ramp

CAMARILLO, USA: The SolarWorld group has installed new sales leadership and staff and implemented the market’s most robust performance assurances to position the sales operation for the company’s steep rise in US manufacturing.

Kevin Kilkelly has rounded out his first quarter as president of the group’s sales and marketing operation for the Americas by creating additional green sales and sales-support jobs, enabling the company to further segment the US market to speed growth of installation and distribution networks. Kilkelly also has adopted the strongest US product protections.

Beginning with modules installed in 2010, SolarWorld is the first manufacturer to offer a linear performance guarantee for 25 years. Competitors offer staggered guarantees -- for instance, 90 percent of nominal output for 10 years, then 80 percent the next year onward. SolarWorld’s guarantee covers 97 percent the first year, then decreases only 0.7 percent each year thereafter.

In parallel, the company is offering a plus-sorting method to ensure customers receive the watts they expect. Every module is flash-tested to determine peak rated power, and the rating accounts for initial light-induced degradation. Based on this rating, SolarWorld, unlike competitors, delivers only modules that offer output greater than or equal to nameplate rated power. Factory flash reports accompany every order.

“As the nation’s pioneering leader in high-quality photovoltaic products, we must constantly innovate ways for our sales operation to keep pace with the ever-increasing performance and reliability of our products,” Kilkelly said. “These steps put us further ahead of the pack.”

SolarWorld, already the largest and most experienced US manufacturer of solar power technology, is expanding its US operations to 500 MW of annual production capacity this year.