In a move that signals more hope for affordable renewable energy sources in the United States, a French semiconductor company that produces concentrating photovoltaic solar products has announced a joint venture with Reflexite Energy Solutions to make lenses for solar panels.

Soitec, whose clients include Mitsubishi Electric, Sony and Toshiba, plans to join forces with the optics and energy company to make lenses that focus sunlight on photovoltaic panels to generate more power. It’s encouraging news for the industry of solar energy. Soitec’s chief executive called the venture both a technological collaboration and an economic solution.

The factory for Reflexite Soitec Optical Technology LLC will be built in San Diego as part of five solar projects. According to Businessweek, the state Public Utilities Commission approved contracts this month to sell the electricity to San Diego Gas and Electric Co.

There is some skepticism about the potential success of more sophisticated and therefore expensive solar energy technology. Prices for photovoltaic systems are continuing to drop rapidly, while concentrating photovoltaic system equipment tends to be more expensive because of its more complicated technology.

“We are skeptical of CPV with crystalline-silicon becoming as cheap as it is,” a lead analyst at Bloomberg Energy Finance told Businessweek. “It’s not a good time for any solar manufacturers, let alone CPV.”

At a time when consumers and businesses are screaming for more renewable energy technology that is both affordable and available, Relexite and Soitec’s new venture would seem to make sense. Whether it can make a profit remains to be seen.

Source: Businessweek, “Soitec, Reflexite Form Solar Lens Joint Venture in San Diego,” Ehren Goossens, Nov. 17, 2011