SunPower is in the midst of its second quarter earnings call as I'm writing this. You can read the details here. 

In a challenging financial environment, SunPower reported a strong second quarter. SunPower:

• Posted second quarter 2009 revenue of $298 million
• Raised $458 million in an equity and convertible debt offering
• Implemented a regional panel manufacturing strategy
• Launched its new T5 fixed-tilt commercial roof mounting system
• Expanded to approximately 600 SunPower dealers worldwide
• Signed a $100 million commercial project financing agreement with Wells Fargo Bank

The company was also optimistic about the balance of 2009 and raised its 2009 guidance to $1.35 to $1.7 billion.

Some More Take-Aways From the Call:

• Demand is recovering from a difficult first quarter
• SunPower has the leading market share in California
• It is seeing improved conditions in Europe
• SunPower has a branding effort going on with radio and print commercials which is resulting in an increase in lead generation

Utility and Power Plant Market

• Substantially completed a 25 megawatt project for Florida Power & Light
• Installing 10 megawatt at Kennedy Space Center

Technology and Performance

• Currently achieving cell efficiency of 22.5 percent
• Working on reducing LCOE
• SunPower claims a 5 percent better energy harvest – its cells run cooler because of highter efficiency and better temperature coefficient
• It claims to have no light induced degradation
• SunPower is reducing tracking cost and can install 1 megawatt per day in the field
• It can now install trackers at less than a 10 percent premium over a fixed tilit system and generate up to 30 percent more power

And Here's More Optimism

• SunPower looks to reach a panel cost of under $1 per watt by 2014 with efficiencies of 25 percent

Nice to hear some positive news from a recovering solar industry.