Evergreen Solar Plans to Move U.S. Panel Production to China

By Ucilia Wang

Evergreen Solar (ESLR) plans to stop producing panels at its factory in Devens, Mass., and shift that work to China, the company said this week.

The Marlboro, Mass.-based company has been producing silicon wafers and cells, and assembling them into panels at the Devens factory.

But running the factory proves expensive, especially when its operation in China will be able to do it for less, the company said.

Evergreen decided to shift some of its manufacturing to China earlier this year. It is contracting with Jiawei Solar to produce cells and turn them into panels.

Evergreen will manufacture the wafers for the cell production in China, and do so in a leased factory being built by Jiawei, the company said when it announced the final agreement with Jiawei. The companies plan to build 100 megawatts of annual production capacities initially. Manufacturing is set to start in spring 2010.

Evergreen plans to shift panel production from Devens to China in mid-2010.

Before inking the deal with Jiawei, Evergreen had considered building its own factory to make wafers, cells and panels in China. But lining up financing for the factory proved difficult. Outsourcing some of the manufacturing would cut costs significantly, the company said.

The company shipped 31.3 megawatts of solar panels from Devens in the third quarter of this year, a 35 percent boost from the second quarter, Evergreen executives said Wednesday.

The company said it could restart panel production at Devens if demand in the United States picks up.

Evergreen's shares rose 9 percent to close at $1.55 per share Thursday.

Comments

[User 401033]

More jobs sent off-shore. Didn't they just spend millions building that plant? Who are the idiots running that company?

2009 Nov 06 11:22 AM

[quick]

Dang that sucks, more jobs lost to China! Yea, they're going to restart the plant in Mass. if demand picks up......unless they can secure financing for another plant in China where they can just produce them cheaper! I fear for the future of this country, I really do!

2009 Nov 06 11:55 AM

[fran]

the same type of idiots who claimed millions of new "green" jobs in the USA in last year's election and repeat the same litany now. new green belongs to europe and asia, not us.


On Nov 06 11:22 AM User 401033 wrote:

> More jobs sent off-shore. Didn't they just spend millions building
> that plant? Who are the idiots running that company?

2009 Nov 06 03:27 PM

[HerrHansa]

In the earnings transcript is a great quote from CFO Michael El-Hillow:

"So this is why getting back to the earlier comment I made, there has to be a statement out of Washington that this is going to be the national energy policy for the United States of America and states must follow it. I mean, it's not unlike what happened in the '70s in the gas shortage where there was a mandate to go to 55 miles an hour on the highways. If you didn't do that as some states out west did because if you ever tried to drive through Wyoming at 55 miles an hour you'd want to kill yourself, but the fact is this that if you decided not to do it, you didn't get federal matching funds for your highway.

So that was the state's decision to make. We need that at the federal level. We haven't seen it yet, but we know it has to happen because we really do not believe that we're going to let one country dominate this industry. This is too much of a growth industry for the world at large, but we haven’t seen it. But I will tell you, I think you people go to a lot of these conferences where government officials are there, they just don't seem to get how to get out of their own way and provide these funds that are so critically needed for companies that are based in the United States to compete."

Companies like Evergreen Solar (ELSR) need some sort of incentive to produce more product in the United States. Beyond that they have a responsibility to shareholders to increase profits, and for the future that means going somewhere else to reduce production costs. Recall that there are environmental issues to producing solar cells and panels, and that other countries have regulations that lag behind what the US imposes.

Disclosure: long Evergreen Solar (ESLR)

2009 Nov 06 07:40 PM

[lefty37]

As long as we continue to purchase these products, they will keep using China and other sweat shop countries.
The ONLY way to stop this is----BUY AMERICAN.
then our jobs will come back home.
Go into Wal Mart, and try to find something made here. BUT, we do not have to shop there. U.S. products can be found if you look for them. The Internet is a great place to shop, "Made in America"

2009 Nov 07 05:39 AM

[dawill4]

So much for green jobs for America. This is just like the plant GE promised in Michigan manufacturing for wind turbines. While the GE CEO is giving a speech talking about American jobs, GE is undercutting the plant and making a deal with China to move the plant there.

What does it take for the US to wake up?!?!

2009 Nov 08 01:23 PM

[John Holmes]

This is great!!! Dick Feldt (CEO) found a way to squeeze some additional margin for the company by cutting over 1000 US jobs and increasing Evergreens shares by a whopping 10 cents for their shareholders...

It is said best in the message left above or below - every CEO has the responsibility to the shareholder to increase profits...




HerrHansa

2009 Nov 14 09:37 AM