STR Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: STRI) announced today that the 1.0-gigawatt (GW) expansion of its Malaysia plant for solar panel enapsulant materials has become operational.
The company says additional capacity is needed to meet a growing global market demand.
Total production capacity at the Malaysia facility has now been doubled to 2.0 GW, bringing the company’s global installed capacity to 6.35 GW.
Dennis L. Jilot, Chairman, President and CEO of STR Holdings, said increasing the production capacity at the Malaysia facility is part of a strategic effort to grow business in Asia through what he called a "One plus China" growth strategy.
The company has placed orders for an additional 1.0 GW of production capacity to be installed during 3Q11, bringing the total installed capacity in Malaysia to 3.0 GW. The company previously announced a building expansion to double the size of its existing production and warehouse space in Malaysia, providing floor space for total capacity of up to 4.0 GW. It is scheduled for completion by the end of the first quarter of 2011.