O’Brien’s Market, a small California-based grocery chain, covered two of its three roofs with Solyndra arrays last year. Closing in on the first full-year of service, the panels are offsetting about 20 percent of the stores’ power use, resulting in cost-savings, said chain owner Chuck O’Brien.

Solyndra’s modules use thin-film technology to create a cylindrical solar cell, which resembles a tube. The design, according to the company, increases the cell’s ability to capture sunlight at many angels, including sun reflected from rooftops. The company has run into trouble with manufacturing costs that were higher than the company had projected. However, Panelized Structures, Inc. President Keith Coonce said the Solyndra modules cost him less than $4.00 per watt. Panelized Solar installed the modules at O’Brien’s stores.

A combination of incentives made it a viable option for the company, O’Brien said.

“Several things came together at once, incentives from utility company, incentives from feds, Obama’s energy program and the rising costs of electricity,” he said.

In California, some of those incentives are drying up.

“The solar business model is basically starting to head toward a stand-alone model,” said Coonce.

For instance, projects Panelized is doing in PG&E’s service area have no performance-based incentives.

“And people are still going for it,” he said. “My feeling is the solar industry is going to double this year. That’s our projections, and that’s what I’m seeing from others.”

O’Brien covered the roof of his Riverside, Calif., store with a 186-kilowatt array and a 280-kilowatt array at one of his two Modesto, Calif., stores. He said he won’t consider it at the other Modesto store because he doesn’t own the building and its rooftop isn’t conducive to solar.

The systems are working as expected and, thanks to the incentives, offsetting his electric bills. In all, O’Brien expects the systems to provide about 20 percent of the overall energy used. But panels need sun to generate power.

“They work real well when the sun shines. We’ve had a lot of clouds and rain this year,” O’Brien said.

Coonce said the Solyndra systems were chosen for these installations partly because O’Brien wanted products made in the U.S. And partly because the modules are ideal for low-sloping rooftops.

Panelized installs other photovoltaics as well. Solyndra modules were among the first solar modules the company installed.

“I’ve had absolutely no issues with the Solyndra modules operating on buildings,” he said. “We monitor it ongoing, and it’s performing just like it’s supposed to be performing.”

Image courtesy of O’Brien's.