Ten Eco-Friendly Companies

A recent report by the renewable-energy group Worldwatch found that grid-connected solar, the world's fastest-growing energy technology, expanded by 60 percent annually from 2000 to 2004. Few companies are better positioned to drive and benefit from that growth than PowerLight. The 120-employee firm, which occupies two floors in an old Heinz ketchup plant in Berkeley, Calif., doesn't make the photovoltaic panels that capture the sun's energy, but it buys them from manufacturers like Japan's Sharp and Sanyo, and America's Evergreen Solar and SunPower. Then it integrates them into its electrical rooftop systems and takes the financial case for solar to the marketplace. "They have had an aggressive approach to getting solar projects built. It is much less of a technology play, but it's important if we are ever going to realize the benefits of solar power," says Dan Reicher, a former assistant secretary of energy at the Department of Energy.

The company was founded in 1991, but for the first 10 years, early adopters bought solar cells mostly for the environmental benefit and an opportunity to jump on the green bandwagon. Today PowerLight sells to businesses, governments and homeowners who want a consistently priced source of energy to hedge against the uncertain future of electricity prices and nonrenewable fuel sources. Customers usually borrow to pay for the upfront installation costs, which are defrayed by state and federal subsidies aimed at reducing carbon emissions. Then they pay back the loan at a fixed rate. So while the price of electricity trends upward, PowerLight customers share a sublime certainty about what they'll be paying for their plugs. Over the last two years, big corporations like FedEx, Johnson & Johnson and Lowe's Corp. have installed PowerLight's systems.

Proponents of other sources of energy have trouble making the same consistency claims. Nuclear, gas and coal-fired plants all have moving parts that need regular, and sometimes unscheduled, maintenance. As Shugar says, "We have a pretty good feeling the sun will be shining with the same intensity two decades from now." Exact electricity output can even be predicted using satellite data that track solar radiation. Photovoltaic technology is so reliable now that PowerLight guarantees its panels for 25 years. In an uncertain energy market, that degree of certainty is as welcome as sunshine.

--Brad Stone

9 Flights of Fancy

SunPower Corp.: Its solar-panel tech is highly efficient, and its esthetics are better for homes.