DOE offers conditional commitment for $197 million loan guarantee

The U.S. Department of Energy Load Programs Office has offered a conditional commitment for a $197 million loan guarantee to SoloPower in order to fund the building of a thin film photovoltaic module factory.

Source: Severn Williams, SparkPR

SoloPower has received a conditional commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Programs Office for a $197 million loan guarantee. The funds will support construction of a facility that, when completed and at full capacity, is expected to produce approximately 400 MW of thin film Photovoltaic (PV) modules annually.

U.S. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon has said that the project intends to hire hundreds of highly skilled, highly paid employees to manufacture the latest in renewable energy technology, and a loan guarantee will help companies such as SoloPower get important projects off the ground.

SoloPower announced earlier this year that it had come to an agreement to construct its first large-scale high volume manufacturing plant in Wilsonville, Oregon. Retrofit of the existing building is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2011. The factory is expected to provide direct employment to approximately 500 people once it is running at full capacity. About 270 construction jobs will reportedly be created to build the plant, and additional jobs are also likely to be generated in the local supply chain.

- Edited by Amanda McLeman, Consulting-Specifying Engineer, www.csemag.com