Soitec (Euronext) has officially opened its North American solar manufacturing facility in San Diego. Less than one year after the facility was acquired by Soitec, the factory is now equipped with automated production line and is operational.
The concentrator photovoltaic modules produced in San Diego will support hundreds of megawatts of contracts for utility-scale projects in California, Soitec says. In 2011, the California Public Utilities Commission approved 300 MW of power purchase agreements for projects that are expected to use Soitec's Concentrix technology.
Soitec acquired the 176,000 square-foot manufacturing center on 14.8 acres of land in December 2011. The factory project represents an investment of more than $150 million.
The first phase (140 MW) of the production line is now operational, as initially planned, and the factory has been designed to reach 280 MW at full production. It will create 450 jobs at full capacity, including employees for the joint venture Reflexite Soitec Optical Technology LLC, Soitec adds.
