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Alternative Energy - Thursday, July 29, 2010

Pardee Homes Powered By SunPower

Seeking to expand its already large presence in the residential solar market, SunPower (SPWRA, SPWRB:NASDAQ) is working with Pardee Homes to construct solar-powered new housing communities in Southern California.

Three of the communities will be located in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties while the other six will be located in San Diego County and Inland Empire California. The homes will feature SunPower's SunTile solar power systems that generate 1.4 kilowatts.

Today's announcement is a continuation of a relationship that began in 2005 and has resulted in over 4,000 new homes being built with SunPower systems. Overall. Pardee Homes has built more than 65,000 homes in California and Nevada.

The residential market is a lot less attractive to investors as utility-scale installations usually draw higher valuations from investors. But many experts believe the residential market is becoming more enticing even though solar is still an expensive proposition for most homeowners. Of the major solar manufacturers in the U.S., SunPower has been the most aggressive with its residential advertising campaign.

Shares of SunPower "A" were down 3.36 percent and "B" shares were down 4 percent in early afternoon trading as the Dow was down 0.49 percent. Solar investors could be nervous about the industry as leader First Solar (FSLR:NASDAQ) reports earnings after market hours today. Shares of First Solar were down 2.58 percent.