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CAMARILLO, Calif., June 30, 2010 – A contingent of SolarWorld employees here is celebrating at least 30 years of building the world's best-performing solar modules at a factory that has continuously blazed a trail for the U.S. photovoltaic manufacturing industry.
Raju Yenamandra went to work at the plant in June 1980, for instance, after earning a master's degree in engineering with a concentration on solar at Florida Technical University in the late 1970s, just as industry-scale manufacturing began to gain traction. He is among the 10 most veteran employees, two of whom started in 1979. Their specializations, centered on Camarillo's module assembly operations, includes lamination, quality control, logistics, document control and facilities.
Now vice president of U.S. sales, Mr. Yenamandra recently was quoted on Greenbuildingadvisor.com. Writer Martin Holladay reported dismantling a module produced at the plant and installed on his roof in 1980, then testing the module's performance. Concluding the module still generates electricy at original specifications, he wrote in the article, "It certainly looks as if it’s ready to perform for another decade."
The most enduring U.S. solar production facility, the Camarillo plant was first to produce 1 megawatt of solar technology in a year, secure UL certification for a panel and offer a 25-year performance warranty. This year, it was first to offer a linear warranty. As the company aggressively expands this year, the sales and marketing unit based in Camarillo is doubling in size to deploy much higher volumes.
Mr. Yenamandra is directing implementation of the redoubled sales strategy. "SolarWorld's dogged and bold advance in technological leadership and economies of scale in production on U.S. soil has continued to realize decades of vision, research and pioneering by my many colleagues since the 1970s," Mr. Yenamandra said. "The achievement is both professionally and personally awesome to behold."
The Camarillo site grew out of a startup launched in 1975. It sold to ARCO Solar, ARCO to Siemens Solar, and Siemens to Shell Solar. SolarWorld purchased Shell’s solar factories in 2006 and opened an even bigger plant in Hillsboro, Ore., in 2008. Many key U.S. company personnel, however, remain the same.
About the SolarWorld group
The SolarWorld group (ISIN: DE0005108401) is a worldwide leader in offering brand-name, high-quality, crystalline solar-power technology. Its strength is its fully integrated solar production. From silicon as the raw material through wafers, cells and modules all the way to turn-key solar systems, including recycling, the group combines all stages of the solar value chain. The central business activity is selling quality modules into the installation and distribution trades and crystalline wafers to the international solar cell industry. Group headquarters are located in Bonn, Germany. Production sites are to be found in Germany, the United States and South Korea. The group’s largest production facilities operate in Freiberg, Germany and Hillsboro in the U.S. state of Oregon. Sustainability is the basis of the group strategy. Under the name Solar2World, the group supports care projects using off-grid solar-power solutions in emerging economies and developing countries, exemplifying sustainable economic development. Worldwide, SolarWorld employs more than 2,700 people. SolarWorld AG has been quoted on the stock exchange since 1999 and today is listed on, among others, the TecDAX, ÖkoDAX, Dow Jones STOXX 600 as well as in the sustainability indices DAXglobal Alternative Energy and NAI.
www.solarworld-usa.com
Media Contact:
Ben Santarris
Public affairs manager
SolarWorld
25300 N.W. Evergreen Road
Hillsboro, OR 97124
Mobile: 503 927 9858
Office: 503 693 5189
ben.santarris(at)solarworld-usa.com
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