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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Crystalline Silicon Solar Producer, SolarWorld, Expands Its Hillsboro, Oregon, Operations Facility

10/30/2014
SolarWorld, the largest crystalline silicon solar producer in the Americas will add a solar-panel production line in Hillsboro, Oregon, to bring the panel-assembly factory’s capacity up to 530 megawatts, expand advanced cell production capacity by 100 MW and add 200 jobs.

According to the firm, SolarWorld’s new line will increase annual solar-panel production capacity from 380 MW to 530 MW. The factory remains the largest of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. The company views this expansion as a stepping-stone to 630 MW of capacity in the near future.

In addition, SolarWorld will increase production capacity of its advanced-technology Passive Emitter Rear Contact photovoltaic cells from 335 MW to 435 MW. SolarWorld has led the world industry in industrializing PERC innovation, beginning with a $27 million investment in Hillsboro in 2012. With the expansion, the company will produce 60-cell mono-crystalline panels with power densities of 280 watts-peak and higher.

“It is no secret that the last several years have been tough for SolarWorld and for U.S. solar manufacturers in general,” SolarWorld U.S. President Mukesh Dulani said. “However, thanks to a variety of factors, including our trade cases against China, difficult but necessary financial controls and a fantastic group of employees, we have turned the corner. Today’s announcement shows that SolarWorld is not only here to stay, but it also is ready to extend our leadership in the American solar manufacturing industry.”

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