SolarReserve and GCL form solar PV energy partnership to develop and build distributed PV projects

SANTA MONICA, USA: As part of its continuing effort to offer affordable, clean energy to consumers, SolarReserve LLC announced a joint venture with GCL Solar Energy Inc. (GCL) to develop, build and operate solar photovoltaic facilities in the United States.

The joint venture, GCL-SR Solar Energy, LLC, holds more than 1,100 megawatts of photovoltaic development projects in its portfolio, primarily in the 5 megawatt (MW) to 20 MW size range proposed on 40 different sites secured across the United States. The joint venture expects to start construction on up to 400 MW of photovoltaic projects in the near term.

“We are delighted to be embarking on this important joint venture with SolarReserve,” said Hunter Jiang, Chairman of GCL Solar Energy, Inc. “GCL will bring expertise in photovoltaic technology and EPC experience which, coupled with SolarReserve’s development experience, establishes a company that will deliver viable, cost effective projects for our utility customers.”

“This joint venture with GCL to develop distributed photovoltaic projects represents a natural fit for SolarReserve,” said Kevin Smith, SolarReserve’s CEO.

“This combination will leverage GCL’s PV technology expertise with SolarReserve’s capabilities in identifying and developing attractive solar energy projects. The photovoltaic projects will complement our portfolio of almost 3,000 megawatts of large-scale solar thermal power projects which will utilize the molten salt power technology SolarReserve has under exclusive license from United Technologies Corporation.

“To attain our nation’s renewable energy goals, we’re going to need to deploy a number of viable renewable energy technologies, including solar thermal and photovoltaic. Our large scale solar thermal project activities will be maintained independently of our joint venture on photovoltaic projects with GCL.”

Under the terms of the joint venture, SolarReserve will be responsible for all aspects of project development, while GCL will oversee PV vendor selection, construction and long-term financing for the photovoltaic projects. The joint venture will be headquartered in Santa Monica, Calif., with Kevin Smith assuming the role of president of the new venture, in addition to his CEO role at SolarReserve, LLC.