SolarWorld (SWV.DE) on Friday opened a solar cell manufacturing facility that will be the largest in North America if it reaches its full expected capacity of 500 megawatts (MW), projected for 2011. The new plant is located in Hillsboro, Oregon.
SolarWorld Hillsboro is a 480,000-square-foot facility, measuring one-quarter mile end-to-end. Raw silicon is transformed through the manufacturing process into solar cells that are shipped to the SolarWorld Camarillo plant where they are processed into solar panels. SolarWorld acquired the Hillsboro factory, which belonged to Japan’s Komatsu Group, in March 2007 for $40 million and is investing more than $400 million in the facility.
The Hillsboro plant also become the official home to SolarWorld Industries America headquarters.
"The need for affordable and efficient energy alternatives represents a global issue and is more critical than ever," said Frank A. Asbeck, CEO of SolarWorld. "SolarWorld has more than 30 years invested in solar technologies and today is helping to bring real alternatives to market through a strategy focused on high-volume manufacturing. The new Hillsboro facility is our most shining example of this strategy in practice."
The company expects to create 1,000 solar jobs at the Hillsboro facility by 2011 to meet this increasing demand worldwide.
"SolarWorld Hillsboro illustrates how we move the needle on delivering solar energy, and on a global economy that is fueled by green jobs," said Boris Klebensberger, Chief Operations Officer. "The Pacific Northwest possesses a hotbed of talent in both silicon manufacturing and clean-technologies. Oregon is the obvious choice for where to undertake this new level of solar cell manufacturing."
About SolarWorld AG
SolarWorld has production facilities in Germany and the United States, including in California, Oregon and Washington, and is establishing a joint venture for module production in South Korea. The company delivers its products to market from sales offices in Germany, Singapore, South Africa, Spain and the United States.
Loading...