Manufacturing companies that entered the solar engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) arena to build a market for their photovoltaic modules - such as SunPower and First Solar (see “Power Blocks Enable Solar EPCs To Piece Together Big Utility Plant Wins”) - soon found that the services have become more valuable than the product. This is not to say that such companies are shy about hawking their wares nor even that they don’t reinvest revenues in the development of their product lines. Indeed, product technology road maps are an integral part of these companies’ future growth.

Engineering helps build the market and then helps ensure that the customer is satisfied with the product. Certainly, the fossil fuel, nuclear and hydropower industries have produced a number of top-flight engineering and construction firms. But, as an engineer will tell you, PV plants are a different sort of beast.

What starts as a means turns into an end that justifies itself. The intellectual content required in the design and implementation of vast PV power plants has proved to be extremely valuable. So much so that the content has been codified, systematized, packaged and branded. The content becomes product.

Even EPCs that have entered the solar plant market without the motivation of a product line behind them - or around their necks - have found themselves in possession of talent and capabilities that are in great demand. What’s more, although the fortunes of utility-scale solar in established markets may rise, fall and rise again, there is a world of emerging market opportunities.

Late last year, the U.S. International Trade Commission reported that global demand for renewable energy services - such as consulting, engineering, construction, equipment maintenance and repair - has grown rapidly in the past five years, making the U.S. and Europe leading importers and exporters of solar services.

Although few trade barriers apply specifically to the provision of renewable energy services, local content requirements applied to renewable energy equipment in many countries act as significant barriers to trade in related services, the agency found. While local content requirements do not typically target service providers, they often serve as de facto barriers because many solar equipment manufacturers provide services in tandem with the sale of their goods.

On the other hand, they can set up local factories to satisfy content requirements and still make money with their intellectual content. R