Tenesol has operations in 18 countries and solar panel manufacturing facilities in South Africa and France.

Concurrently with the closing of the transaction, Total will buy 18.6 million shares of SunPower common stock in a private placement at $8.80 per share, a 50% premium to SunPower’s 22 December 2011 closing price.

The transaction is expected to close early in 2012, subject to customary closing conditions.

Since 1983, Tenesol has been designing, engineering, manufacturing, installing and managing solar energy systems for its global customer base.