SpectraWatt, Inc., a manufacturer and supplier of advanced silicon photovoltaic cells to the solar industry, will invest $81 million to establish the company's headquarters and factory in Hopewell Junction, New York. The company says in a statement that it plans to create at least 100 new jobs in the first year of operation. "Between the skilled work force, outstanding support from the Empire State Development Corporation, and the valuable programs offered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), the decision to locate in New York was very easy for us," says Andrew Wilson, the company's CEO. Wilson says the company, a spinoff of Intel Corporation, is in the process of moving from its previous location in Oregon and hopes to be in production in New York early next year. The first factory line will have an initial manufacturing capacity of 60 megawatts, with plans already in place to increase site capacity to 120 megawatts within the first two years of operation. The New York governor's office says SpectraWatt will be the first solar cell manufacturing company to start operations in the state, and will receive $1.5 million from the NYSERDA.
