The solar project portfolio includes 55MW of projects in Kern County, California which are under various stages of development and that have contracts to sell power to Southern California Edison.

SunPower plans to commence construction on the projects later this year with commercial operation expected in 2016.

The company expects to offer the assets to 8point3 Energy Partners, the yieldco joint venture between SunPower and First Solar.

Commenting on the acquisition, SunPower CEO and president Tom Werner said: "It provides an expanded and geographically diverse portfolio of solar projects in the U.S. that may all be generating cost-effective, emission-free power by the end of this decade.

"We expect this acquisition to deliver additional value to our shareholders through long-term power purchase agreements with leading energy buyers, while providing further growth opportunities for SunPower."

The net proceeds for Infigen amount to about $29.5m. The company may receive earn-outs of about $30m.

Infigen Energy US CEO David Smith said: "SunPower brings significant experience and proven technology to ultimately transform these development assets into high-performing solar power plant projects, designed to reliably deliver value over the long term."