The module manufacturing facility will now run for up to 16 hours per day with 78 employees. This has increased from eight hours and 40 employees, when it commenced operations last October.
The company adds that it expects to ramp the facility up to 50 megawatts (MWs) of annual production capacity by mid-2011, and targets to employ 150 people by the end of the year. Furthermore, to meet growing demand throughout the Americas, it says it plans to further expand the plant to exceed 100 MWs of annual production capacity within the next few years.
"We've got a spirited, hard-working team in Goodyear that's eager to ramp up production," states Martin Guo, Suntech's Arizona plant manager. "Over the first three months, our new workers have really stepped-up and made a great deal of progress towards our cost and output targets. Now that we've found our stride, we're ready to take on another shift and increase output volumes to meet the great interest we're seeing for Suntech products made in Arizona."
The 117,000 square foot manufacturing facility features automated manufacturing and product testing equipment. It currently produces Suntech's 280W solar panels for commercial and utility-scale electricity generation.
"Our Arizona manufacturing operations have solidified our market leadership position and put Suntech America on a solid foundation for long-term growth," concludes Steven Chan, President of Suntech America.
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