Spire, Gloria Solar sever joint venture

Bedford, Mass.-based Spire (Nasdaq:SPIR) and Tainan, Taiwan’s Gloria Solar are splitting up a joint venture.

Spire, a global company developing and manufacturing solar industry manufacturing equipment and full turnkey lines for cell and module production and testing, reached an agreement today to liquidate a joint venture with photovoltaic module manufacturer Gloria Solar. The joint venture that performs U.S.-based PV systems integration, called Gloria Spire Solar, was originally launched in 2007.

“This new direction will free Spire to develop new opportunities emerging rapidly in the U.S. systems market, stimulated by the federal funding,” said Spire’s CEO Roger Little in a news release.

The two companies reevaluated strategies for their respective solar product lines, given the slowing market for PV systems. The companies agreed to an allocation of the remaining assets of Gloria Spire Solar, including cash, after all liabilities are paid.

Details of the financial allocation were not disclosed, but each company is expected to receive a share of project leads. Spire plans to continue to support the current customer base under the name “Spire Solar Systems.”

The newly-named entity plans to keep its operations out of Spire’s Massachusetts headquarters. It is expected to be staffed by several key Gloria Spire Solar employees and operated under Stephen Hogan, Spire’s executive vice president and general manager, and acting CEO of Spire Solar Systems.

Spire is known for introducing a “starter production line” for thin film solar PV module development (see Spire introduces thin film solar production line kit and Spire up 10% on new PV system orders).

However, Spire is not the only one delivering solar factories in a box. Other solar equipment manufacturers include Applied Materials, Despatch, GT Solar, Oerlikon Solar and 3S Swiss Solar Systems.