German electronics and electrical engineering firm sees a bright future in solar

Siemens AG, the German electronics giant has announced that it expects its solar equipment earnings to shortly match those of its wind energy unit, FinSoul understands.

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The firm, planning to supply turbines to the Sahara deserts largest solar project says earnings should see huge growth over the next few years. The wind energy unit has seen profits increase an average

71% annually since 2004, with wind equipment income of around $565 million in the 2009 financial year.

The company manufactures power generators, trains and medical scanners and has recently begun branching into renewable energy as demand for systems to harness wind and solar power is significantly higher than for conventional energy technologies, FinSoul was informed. Renewable energy is expected to more than double by 2030 with countries looking to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

In the proposed “Desertec” plan, Siemens, Europe’s largest engineering firm, will develop a new solar division by uniting its purchase of Beit Shemesh, an Israeli parabolic mirror company, with some of its turbine operations, and working with Munich Re AG and Allianz SE, the company hopes to create an estimated 2 million jobs and provide 15% of Europe’s power demand by 2050.

Siemens, FinSoul believes, is to supply “the majority” of the technology for the Sahara desert solar project with a company source saying, “Desertec is a project of that size we have to be interested in, we want to be able to provide the technology and we have identified ways to improve technology. The big issue with all these renewable technologies is energy efficiency.”

Siemens agreed earlier this year to purchase solar thermal power company Solel Solar Systems Ltd for around $418 million to expand its renewable energy products portfolio.