By Renewable Energy Focus Staff

SunPower, a manufacturer of solar cells, panels and systems, plans to own and operate a solar panel manufacturing facility in Mexicali, Mexico, to meet the demand of a growing North American solar market.

The company plans to lease an existing building, which has up to 320,000 square feet of capacity. It will manufacture its high-efficiency E18, E19 and E20 series solar panels for residential, commercial and power plant projects, and will also produce its T5 Solar Roof Tile system.

SunPower says the move is consistent with its strategy to expand upstream vertical integration for local panel manufacturing.

Marty Neese, SunPower's COO, says: "Establishing our own manufacturing facility in Mexicali means we will be positioned to quickly deliver our high-efficiency, high-reliability solar products to a growing North American solar market. Over the past year, we have successfully ramped up manufacturing at Fab 3 in Malaysia where we set records for output and yield efficiency. SunPower also launched manufacturing in California, with a facility in Silicon Valley, and expanded our panel manufacturing in Europe."

SunPower worked closely with the Industrial Development Commission of Mexicali in locating its facility.

Francisco Perez Tejada Padilla, Mayor of Mexicali, says: "Mexicali is rapidly becoming an industrial hub for high tech companies, offering an educated workforce and a growing manufacturing area. We welcome SunPower to our city and are pleased that they have chosen Mexicali to establish its solar panel manufacturing facility."