With more than 2,700 employees, the SolarWorld group is one of the world’s largest solar energy businesses. SolarWorld’s family of companies dedicates itself exclusively to the business of solar energy, combining all stages of the photovoltaic value chain, from the raw material silicon to turn-key solar power plants. SolarWorld operates production facilities in the United States and Germany as well as sales offices around the world.
In 2006, SolarWorld acquired the manufacturing base of Shell Solar, the largest manufacturer of solar electrical products in America since 1977. This operation, which included sites in Camarillo, Calif., and Vancouver, Wash., previously operated as Arco Solar and Siemens Solar.
In 2007, SolarWorld acquired the Komatsu silicon wafer production facility in Hillsboro (near Portland, Ore.) for $40 million. The company has invested about $500 million to renovate the 480,000-square-foot facility into a world-class manufacturing plant that will convert raw silicon into up to 500 megawatts worth of photovoltaic wafers and cells a year. The Hillsboro facility went on line in fall 2008. A module assembly factory in a second building, constructed in 2009, will begin production in the second half of 2010.
The Hillsboro campus will employ about 1,000 people by 2011, producing enough photovoltaic cells to serve the North and South American markets, including expanded module production in Camarillo, as well as fulfill exports. By then, employment will total more than 1,200 in the U.S. and 3,000 worldwide.
The SolarWorld group offers products ranging from wafers and cells to PV modules for grid-coupled and grid-independent power generation to complete solar power kits and systems. SolarWorld’s Sunmodules® repeatedly have proven to produce more energy per rated kilowatt than other major brands.
SolarWorld’s customized solar power systems, Sunkits®, enable small businesses such as electrical contractors to offer reliable, cost-effective systems. By providing training and design services as well as photovoltaic components, the Sunkits program helps small businesses enter the fast-growing industry.
