SolarWorld Opens North America’s Largest Solar Cell Manufacturing Facility

SolarWorld Industries America has officially opened what is currently the largest solar cell manufacturing facility in North America. Located in Hillsboro, Oregon, the new plant is expected to reach a capacity of 500 megawatts (MW) by 2011.

Facilities like the one SolarWorld is pioneering will reduce the costs of solar power and increase the number of green jobs, accelerating commercial and residential installations of solar panels and overall economic growth.

“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.

The solar industry is expected to grow to $74 billion in 2017 from $20 billion in 2007, according to a projection by Clean Edge Inc., a market research firm focused on clean technology.

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.

Headquartered in Germany and founded n 1977, SolarWorld is a veteran of the clean tech industry in a sea of startups. The company conducted its IPO in Germany in 1999 when most technology companies were emerged in dotcom. Today, SolarWorld is one of the most successful clean tech companies on the planet.

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.

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