ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Albuquerque-based Array Technologies has ridden the solar wave to become the largest maker of solar-tracking systems in the U.S. and now it’s setting its sights on the world.
The company, a homegrown firm that CEO Ron Corio launched in 1989, has built about 30 percent of all the solar-trackers installed in ground-mounted solar systems in the U.S. today. In fact, the company helped set the trend for industry adoption of tracking systems, which are used to tilt and turn solar panels to follow the sun, increasing electric output from photovoltaic arrays.
Having cemented a dominant role in the U.S., the company is now planning an aggressive move into global markets as PV generation heats up around the world.
The world is waking up to solar energy and our growth now is dependent on the globalization of our products,” Corio said. “That’s become our primary focus – to globalize our tracking systems.”
The company expects international markets to account for 17 percent of its total sales by next year and 50 percent by 2020.
Like Array, rapid expansion in domestic and foreign demand is creating lucrative opportunities for other homegrown New Mexico companies.
New Mexico had 114 solar-related companies operating around the state as of yearend 2015, according to the national Solar Energy Industry Association. Together, they employ about 1,900 people, with projections for a 12.3 percent expansion in payroll this year, according to the national Solar Foundation.
The vast majority are service-sector businesses, including about 60 contracting and installation companies, and nearly 30 more involved in project development, financing, engineering and legal support.
Another 16 are manufacturing enterprises that make a range of products. That includes tracking and racking systems, electronic components and even solar cells for spacecraft.
The manufacturing sector has had its ups and downs in recent years. Advent Solar, a venture-backed firm that made solar panels at Mesa del Sol in south Albuquerque, was sold to a California firm in 2010 after facing financial difficulties in the recession. And Schott Solar PV Inc., which ran a 200,000-square-foot panel factory at Mesa del Sol, collapsed in 2012 because of intense competition from China and elsewhere.
More recently, Direct Power & Water Corp., which makes racks and other parts for solar systems, moved from Albuquerque to a factory in North Carolina owned by its parent firm, Preformed Line Products Co. Preformed Line acquired DPW in 2007, but it continued to operate in Albuquerque until last October.
Today’s booming markets offer opportunities for local companies, but they face new challenges, as well. More competitors are entering the market, forcing New Mexico firms to improve efficiency and fight harder for customers.
In the service sector, installation companies now face deep-pocketed national competitors, such as SolarCity and ZingSolar, which came to town last year with aggressive marketing techniques, including door-to-door canvassing. That helps build more awareness among consumers, benefitting all firms, but local businesses must fight to keep pace, said Regina Wheeler, CEO of Sunpower by Positive Energy Solar.
“We’ve seen an impact,” Wheeler said. “We have to spend more money on marketing to compete for each customer.”
Even so, Positive Energy and other installers, such as Affordable Solar, report marked growth. Both companies earned spots on this year’s Flying 40 list of fast-growing technology firms. Positive Energy’s revenue increased from $8.5 million in 2010 to nearly $13 million in 2015. Affordable’s revenue leapt by 160 percent in the same period, from $22.5 million to $58.6 million.
In manufacturing, Albuquerque-based Unirac has sought more growth capital to compete. The company, which makes mounting platforms at the Springer Industrial park north of Downtown, was acquired in April by New York-based private equity firm Tenex Capital Management. But it will remain in Albuquerque, where Unirac employs about 100 people, said President and CEO Peter Lorenz.
Array Technologies, meanwhile, is New Mexico’s true rising star, but it also faces increased competition. That’s why it’s moving heavily into foreign markets.
The company reached $38 million in revenue in 2010, when it stopped publicly reporting its finances. But Array’s accumulated growth since then is in the triple digits, with annual revenue growing “multiple times” in the past five years, Corio said.
The company has expanded its north Interstate 25 manufacturing facility from 50,000 to 75,000 square feet since 2013 and, last year, it added 70,000 more square feet of space in other parts of the city. It employs 211 people today, up from 35 in 2010.
Corio is now exploring markets in Asia, the Mideast and Latin America.
“We have a team in the Mideast now, and we’re actively looking at Australia and Brazil,” Corio said. “We’re also very interested in Mexico. It has a good-sized market, it’s close to us, we have the NAFTA free-trade accord and we have manufacturing capability in that country.”
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