Akeena Solar released its 3rd quarter results today. The company saw an increase in sales over the past year, with net sales up to $10.60 million compared to $8.1 million in the third quarter of last year and $7.1 million in the second quarter of this year. Commercial installations are up tremendously, having doubled from the second quarter of this year and quadrupling compared to last year’s 3rd quarter results. Residential installations are increasing again, up 16.6% from last quarter. However, they are still 10.9%  lower than they were at this time last year. Gross profit was 1.3 million, down slightly from the $1.7 million reported in last year’s 3rd quarter but up slightly from the $1.0 million reported in the second quarter of 2008.

However, due to higher operating expenses, the com;any still reported a net loss of 5.5 million, or $.19 per share, up from 3.7 million, or $.16 per share, this time last year and $5.1 million, or $.18 per share in the second quarter of this year.

Akeena Solar’s president and CEO, Barry Cinnamon, is optimistic about the company’s future. Here is what he had to say regarding the results:

"With the passage of the ITC, many commercial jobs are progressing to the installation stage. Residential customers are contracting with us now before state rebates decline, then they are simply interconnecting their systems in 2009 so that they are eligible for the uncapped 30% ITC. These factors support our expectation that we will generate revenue growth this year in the range of 30% to 40%, consistent with prior guidance."

"As we begin planning for 2009 with an uncapped ITC for residential customers, a restoration of the commercial tax credit and new utility opportunities, we’re anticipating substantial growth in the U.S. market. We are laying the groundwork for significant sales in the burgeoning utility market now that utilities can take advantage of the 30% ITC. Since our Andalay flat roof system is both light-weight and non-penetrating, it is ideally suited for flat rooftops leased by utilities," added Cinnamon. "Our gross margins are expected to improve as we gain greater operational efficiency with the installation of Andalay and we achieve Andalay cost reductions in the second year of production from our OEM partners. We also expect to reduce our operational expenses in 2009 as we improve our sales and marketing efficiencies, and reduce our customer acquisition costs."

Cinnamon concluded, "Worldwide conditions in the solar industry have put us in an enviable position in the solar value chain. Supply of solar modules exceeds demand, especially since manufacturing capacity continues to increase and shipments to Europe have slowed down. As a result, module manufacturers are now looking towards the U.S., which is expected to be the largest worldwide market. There are only three ways to differentiate solar modules: low price (which generally is an unprofitable strategy), high efficiency (which is expensive and technically challenging), or superior aesthetics, reliability and fast installation times. Our patented Andalay technology excels in these latter dimensions, and our current OEM partners Suntech and Kyocera understand these benefits."