Akeena CEO eyes expanding solar market via retail

ANAHEIM, California (Reuters) - Akeena Solar Inc, which designs and installs solar power systems, wants to boost revenue by making further inroads into new U.S. markets and begin selling to consumers through retail chains, hoping to reverse losses.

The California-based solar power company, which competes with the likes of Suntech Power in selling solar panels, hopes to break even as it begins shipping panels to states outside of its home base.

Chief Executive Barry Cinnamon said the company was "actively pursuing" an effort to sell all-in-one solar-power generating units -- which can plug into wall outlets just like an electrical appliance -- through big-box retailers, for instance Wal-Mart and Best Buy.

But he would not say how advanced those efforts were, nor name specific retail chains.

Akeena Solar posted a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss last week, as reduced installation costs and lower panel prices helped boost its profit margin.

In May, it started shipping solar panels to installers in other states, including Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, New York and Washington. The company says that its panels have 80 percent fewer parts to install than comparable products, reducing inventory logistics.

Cinnamon said that sales for its solar panels doubled in the third quarter from the second. But he would not estimate when the company will become profitable.

"We expect the sales ramp-up in those channels are going to get us to that break-even point, and then the challenge of when really depends on when these channels kick into gear," Cinnamon said, speaking at the Solar Power International conference in Anaheim this week.

Cinnamon said the company's efforts to cut costs have been effective.

"We've brought down our cash burn. We have the right operating cost structure to attack these new opportunities that we have in the market," he said.

The executive also said that he expects financing for commercial solar power projects to start flowing in 2010.

"Interest in commercial (projects) is really high but we're still constrained," Cinnamon said.

(Reporting by Laura Isensee, editing by Matthew Lewis)