Saturday, January 10, 2009

Suntech Reaches 1 GW of Solar Cell & Module Production Capacity

San Francisco, United States [RenewableEnergyWorld.com]

Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. has reached 1 gigawatt (GW) of solar photovoltaic (PV) cell and module production capacity in Wuxi, China. The company also announced the opening of its new headquarters in Wuxi that incorporates a 1-megawatt (MW) grid-connected building integrated solar facade.

"Since our inception, we have focused on rapidly building world-class manufacturing facilities that can meet the burgeoning global demand for green energy."-- Dr. Zhengrong Shi, Chairman and CEO, Suntech

"We are very proud to become the world's first PV solar company to achieve 1 GW of solar cell and module production capacity," said Dr. Zhengrong Shi, Suntech's chairman and CEO. "Since our inception, we have focused on rapidly building world-class manufacturing facilities that can meet the burgeoning global demand for green energy. This milestone is a credit to all Suntech employees that have tirelessly worked towards the common goal of making cost-effective solar energy systems available on a global scale."

Suntech's new solar headquarters in Wuxi is an 18,000 square meter building that incorporates one of the world's largest on-grid photovoltaic facade systems. The system includes more than 2,552 semi-transparent Light Thru solar panels and will have an annual output of more than 1 million kilowatt-hours of electricity.

This announcement comes as other companies have started to scale back production estimates for 2009 because of polysilicon supply issues, market conditions and the problems that still exist in the world's credit markets following late 2008's record stock slide around the world.