Additionally, SolarWorld is a partner, along with other Colorado companies, of the U.S. Department of Defense on construction of a 1.2 MW solar power plant at a military installation in Colorado. In this project, more than 5,000 of SolarWorld’s new 220/230-watt modules are to be installed. As the modules represent a higher performance class, a larger power yield can be obtained from a smaller area. Like all SolarWorld modules, the new products meet the most stringent quality requirements. The new modules are manufactured at SolarWorld’s site in Camarillo, California, from photovoltaic cells made at its site in Hillsboro, Oregon. Virtually all of the raw materials and components are produced in the United States, where SolarWorld is the largest manufacturer of solar power technology, with more than 30 years of production and market experience.
The US market is the world’s third largest sales region for solar power technology. “As of the fourth quarter of 2009, the public funding of solar power is expected to come to the fore,” Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Frank H. Asbeck said. “With our sites in the USA, we are excellently prepared for the expected positive development in the US market.” Until the end of 2010, the U.S. sites will undergo further expansion. “We will then have production capacity of 500 MW each in wafer and cell production,” Asbeck said.
In the first half of 2009, SolarWorld supplied its Sunmodules to projects such as a 1 MW roof-mounted solar plant on the Orange County Convention Center in Florida and a 1.2 MW solar power system for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority in Los Angeles. The two projects are among the biggest not only among US civic facilities of their kind but also within the regions where they were installed.
