Dive Brief:

• SunEdison plans to keep its solar projects instead of selling them, which will lower near-term revenue but lead to higher profits, company officials said during an earnings conference call.

• In the fourth-quarter, SunEdison completed 333 MW worth of projects, about what it finished in an entire year a couple years ago, officials said. The company is building about 500 MW and has a 3,400 MW under development worldwide.

• Solar-developer SunEdison is joining the “yieldco” bandwagon and has confidentially asked the Securities and Exchange Commission for permission to launch an initial public offering.

Dive Insight:

SunEdison's emerging business strategy reflects a maturing solar industry. “During the upcoming year, our business model will begin to transition to one which will be driven by building and selling some projects while retaining more projects, which will provide us with consistent cash flows over the long-term,” SunEdison Chief Financial Officer Brian Wuebbels said.

"As these public vehicles are developed, we believe that we will be able to capture much of the value that we are giving up today," he said.