Good news for alternative energy firms like Norcross, Ga.-based solar cell maker Suniva Inc. Or maybe not.
Seven out of 10 executives are more focused on energy efficiency than they were a year ago, according to new research commissioned by Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE: JCI). Yet, many said they can't afford to finance energy efficiency initiatives in the midst of a recession.
Seventy one percent of business leaders surveyed are paying more attention to energy efficiency than they were a year ago, according to the Energy Efficiency Indicator survey. Fifty-eight percent said energy management was extremely or very important.
Forty-two percent of those surveyed cited limited capital availability for investments and another 21 percent blamed poor ROI for not investing in energy efficiency.
Forty-four percent of respondents said incentives are very important or extremely important as they make decisions on energy efficiency, up from 38 percent last year.
Suniva claims to have developed a low-cost technology to make solar cells that can transform more of the sun’s energy into the juice that powers today’s plugged-in world.
The company has racked up $1 billion in orders from Indian and European solar module makers. In a high-profile deal in March, Suniva inked a deal worth “tens of millions of dollars” to supply solar cells to Aerotropolis Atlanta — a planned 130-acre mixed-use redevelopment of the former Hapeville Ford plant.