U.S. solar firm Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. is planning to develop rooftop solar projects totaling 10 megawatts of power capacity, the firm announced on Monday.

The project - consisting of several installations throughout the United States and Europe - will be made in alliance with Efinity. In the deal, ECD will only provide its product- light photovoltaic laminates - in exchange for equity in the projects.

The project is part of ECD's strategy to increase near term demand of its laminates. Although interest in the product is strong, the economic downturn has caused lack of financing for projects and is hurting the company's business, Chief Executive Mark Morelli said in a conference call Monday.

Things have slowed down, Morelli told investors on Monday.

ECD reported today that its third quarter profit fell 81 percent to $1.3 million, and revenue fell 6 percent to $66 million. It did not provide guidance for the fourth quarter.

Looking ahead the American firm sees signals of growth in the domestic market and is expecting to benefit from the billions of dollars in the stimulus package allocated for renewable energy projects.

We believe the U.S. represents a growth opportunity, Morelli said. However he anticipated it could take a couple of months until the funds come to the market.

The company, however, remains confident on the growth of its overseas market. About 80 percent of the sales of the company are in Europe, especially in France and Italy, where the economy has also been slowing down, Morelli said.

Overall the firm is getting very good response in those markets, Morelli added.

Solar Energy