IBM's Big Green look to solar

While IBM has been keeping its activities flying under the radar of the mainstream press, a cleantech blog written by Neal Dikeman, a partner with San Francisco, Calif.- based Jane Capital Partners, says the Armonk-based company could soon be jumping into the solar game with both feet.

Dikeman reported on a conversation with a senior member of IBM’s (NYSE: IBM) “Big Green Innovations” program, suggesting that IBM could make an announcement by 2008 about potential moves into the solar energy business.

IBM is not exactly new to the solar market. The company has been researching solar cell technology, applying for patents and developing uses for its semiconductor manufacturing know-how in the solar market since the 1970s, as evidenced by articles focused on solar energy that appeared in the company’s R&D magazine as early as 1978.

The Big Green Innovations business group was one of 10 in which IBM CEO Samuel J. Palmisano agreed to invest ($100 million was spread out across the 10) after IBM’s InnovationJam, a November 2006 online brainstorming session that included thousands of employees, business and university partners.

The new business unit is focused on applying IBM’s research and market strengths to environmental issues in order to develop new processes, technologies and products that benefit both the company and the environment. Big Green Innovations will also oversee IBM’s Project Big Green, which is devoting $1 billion annually to improving data center energy efficiency.

Dikeman reports the company is working in a number of solar technology areas, but isn’t likely to start offering branded solar products. Dikeman told Sustainable Industries IBM also hinted it is likely to enter the solar concentrator business. If so, the company could give Boeing’s (NYSE: BA) subsidiary SpectroLab a run for its money.

Sylmar, Calif.-based SpectroLab holds about 80 percent of the concentrator market, according to Dikeman. “If that market grows and IBM gets involved, it could be very interesting,” he says.