SunPower, a majority-owned subsidiary of Total SA, announced that, in the first round of France's tender process for rooftop solar projects, the company will supply 64MW of its high efficiency SunPower® E-Series solar panels, or 57% of the 361 awarded solar projects.

"For the second time this year in France's tender process, SunPower has been selected to supply more winning projects than any other brand," said SunPower Executive Vice President Peter Aschenbrenner. "We are proud to be the leading provider of solar panels for the solar projects announced in this first tender round, and to play a key role in promoting the use of clean, renewable solar power in France."

In March, SunPower announced that the company was the leading solar panel provider in the first round of France's tender process for large-scale solar power, supplying 31 percent of the solar panels required for the awarded solar projects. Combining the large-scale and rooftop solar tender awards, SunPower will supply 194 megawatts of solar panels to the winning large-scale and rooftop projects.

"Total is very pleased with SunPower's great achievement in this round of the French tender process," said Julien Pouget, senior vice president, Renewables, Total. "It demonstrates once again the quality and efficiency of SunPower's solar solutions, which contribute to the generation of reliable, affordable and clean energy worldwide.

A significant portion of the panels SunPower supplies will be manufactured at the company's facilities in France. Compared to conventional panels, SunPower E-Series solar panels produce 30 percent more energy in the same space over the first 25 years.

SunPower's direct current E-Series solar panels, as well as its X-Series solar panels, are Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Silver. SunPower is the only solar panel manufacturer in the world to achieve this designation, which demonstrates a product's quality based on rankings in five categories: material health, material reutilization, renewable energy use, water stewardship, and social fairness.

Ninety-nine percent of the waste generated at SunPower's manufacturing facilities in Toulouse and De Vernejoul, France is diverted from landfills, earning the facilities landfill-free verification from NSF Sustainability, a division of the global public health organization NSF International.

(Photo courtesy to SunPower.)