Renewable energy gains more and more attention worldwide – America has one of the highest energy demands all over the world and therefore is at the forefront of research, development and implementation in the field of renewable energy. Solar or photovoltaic energy is one of the fastest rising energy sources and accordingly more and more solar energy developers are emerging worldwide and in the United States. Solar energy is an important and highly relevant field and a lot of American solar developers are worldwide active and have a strong expertise. In the following article, 10 relevant solar energy developers from Canada or the United States are presented.
1. LS Power (New York, United States)
LS Power is one of the first solar developers in the United States and hence one of the biggest players in the field. Founded in 1990, the New-York based solar developer has developed, constructed, managed and acquired over 45,000 MW all over America, mostly in Northern America. While their portfolio consists of multiple renewable energy sources, such as wind, hydroelectric and hydro energy as well as energy storage, solar energy is at the core of LS Power.
2. Amshore (Dallas, United States)
The Dallas-based renewable energy developer was founded in 2002 and since then specializes in the development of renewable energy sources for utility companies and independent power producers. Since then, the Texan company Amshore has developed over 2,7 GW worth of projects, mostly in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico.
3. Capstone Infrastructure (Toronto, Canada)
Capstone Infrastructure is one of the leading Canadian independent power producers and has its headquarter in Toronto. The publicly traded sustainable energy developer is active in wind, solar, hydro and biomass energy as well as natural gas. The Canadian solar developer is active in their home country, most projects are in Ontario and Quebec. All together Capstone owns and operates 24 renewable energy plants that generate around 11,400 GW of electricity.
4. Sunlight (New York, United States)
The name says it all: Sunlight is a solar energy developer from New York and not only develops but also finances, owns and operates solar plants. Geographically Sunlight focuses on Northeastern United States and since 2009 has developed over 130 sites with an aggregated amount of 50 MW. One highly important business division of the company is the Public Sector in which the New Yorker solar developer offers PPAs to various public organizations. Through their “Community solar” project, Sunlight offers affordable local solar energy with the goal of long-term energy savings.
5. Crossover Energy (Scottsdale, United States)
Crossover Energy is an American solar developer based in Scottsdale, Arizona. The company is active in the project development, the organizing and structuring of these as well as project ownership. Crossover is one of the “Industry-Leading Solar & Storage Developers” and therefore highly relevant in the American solar market. Solar energy holds the largest proportion of their project portfolio with over 10.5 GW of contracting or developing projects.
6. BrightSource Energy (Oakland, United States) –
BrightSource Energy is a 2006-founded solar thermal technology developer based in Oakland, California. With currently 5 operating solar thermal sights, BrightSource Energy has successfully developed projects worldwide. As the company tries to be as eco-conscious as possible, the project areas are carefully selected in order to minimize environmental impact.
7. Dominion Energy (Richmond, United States) –
Dominion Energy is one of the market leaders in solar development and is active across 18 states in North America. The Richmond-based solar developer holds the 3rd largest solar park across the United States and has an ambitious 15-year plan: growing from their current output of 369 MW to around 16,000 MW by 2035. Dominion already has solar parks in 10 states and plans to widen their portfolio.
8. Canadian Solar (Guelph, Canada)
The name (again) says it all – Canadian solar is a Canadian solar energy company. Offering products and services around solar panels and parks, the Guelph-based developer is active in utility, commercial and residential solar development. Founded in 2001, the company has shipped around 55 GW of energy in solar modules in over 150 countries worldwide and has a project pipeline with more than 20.8 GW.
9. 174 power global (Irvine, United States)
174 power global is an Irvine-based solar energy company owned by the Hanwha Energy Corporation. Founded in 2017, the company has around 2 GW of power purchase agreements and over 8 GW of (solar) projects in the development pipeline adding up to a total of 10 GW in their portfolio. With commercial as well as utility projects the solar developer is active mainly in the United States, mostly New York State, as well as one project in Mexico. Currently the company is also exploring the field of green hydrogen.
10. Pivot energy (Denver, United States)
Pivot energy is a solar developer from Denver and is active both in the “community solar” as well as “commercial solar” field. “Community solar” offers multiple services in the private sector with focus on accessibility to environmental benefits for everyone. In the “Commercial solar” sector, Pivot offers various turnkey services, such as project financing or system financing. In the 12 years since their founding, Pivot energy has achieved roughly 830 projects all over the United States. In addition to their solar energy development, Pivot is also active in the energy storage sector.
Image Source: Unsplash, 03.08.2021
