SunPower will produce up to a quarter of its solar panels in the United States in a year or slightly longer from now, according to Reuters. CEO Tom Werner told the audience at the Reuters Global Climate and Alternative Energy Summit that the company “will produce panels in the United States in four or five quarters.”
The report notes that Werner (pictured) said that SunPower is looking at “manufacturing locations in U.S. states near strong solar markets,” such as California, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, and is likely to use an existing facility rather than a greenfield site. The company also plans to establish production in Europe after the United States, the CEO is quoted as saying.
SunPower, which has its own crystalline-silicon cell and moduling manufacturing facilities in the Philippines and China, recently announced an agreement with contract manufacturer Jabil Circuits to assemble its PV panels at a site in Mexico.
PHOTO BY TOM CHEYNEY
