Grape Solar and Patriot Solar Group say they have partnered to provide complete, cost-effective equipment solutions to the U.S. and Canadian solar markets. As a result of the partnership, the two companies will also enter the Latin American solar market.
PSG will now offer its customers Grape Solar’s 175- to 280W crystalline-silicon photovoltaic panels to pair with its solar mount and tracking systems, while Grape will expand its product offering to include PSG’s horizontal pole mounts, one or two-axis tracking systems, and racking components to its network of 5000 independent solar installers in the U.S. and Canada.
The two companies say they expect to sell more than 10MW of complete PV systems within the next 12 months.
PSG and Grape plan to move into the Latin American solar market via existing satellite dish distribution channels that PSG’s sister company, Patriot Antenna Systems, has already established. First shipments of solar products will begin in May to Chile, Peru, Costa Rica, Brazil, and Argentina, according to the companies.
“In addition to our North American sales, we anticipate doing about $50 million in business in Argentina alone,” said Ocean Yuan, president of Eugene, OR-based Grape Solar. “Including business we expect in Brazil, Peru, Chile, Puerto Rico, and other countries, we could reach sales of $100 million in South America by the end of 2010.”
