The United States Department of Energy made a $400 million loan guarantee for Abound Solar Manufacturing L.L.C. to expand the manufacturing capacity of thin-film solar panels in the latter’s Colorado and Indiana facilities.
The funding will help Abound Solar ramp up production of cadmium-telluride thin-film solar panels in its manufacturing plants in Longmont, Colorado and Tipton, Indiana. A second production line will be added in Longmont in 2011.
Both facilities will use a new manufacturing technology that deposits thin films of cadmium-telluride onto glass panels – a process that has never been deployed at the commercial level.
Abound Solar said the technology will shrink overall production costs and release a significantly smaller amount of greenhouse gas emissions compared with crystalline silicon panels.
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At full capacity, the project will produce 840 megawatts of solar panels annually. It will also create 1,200 green jobs for manufacturing and operations, with Indiana accounting for 1,000 jobs and Colorado the remaining 200.
The project will support 1,600 ongoing supply chain jobs across the Midwest region, including Wisconsin, Minnesota, Tennessee and Ohio, the company said.
«Pioneering projects like this are what will help the U.S. recapture the lead when it comes to supporting innovation in the global clean energy economy,» noted Steven Chu, energy secretary.
“Not only is this investment creating thousands of jobs, but it is also increasing our renewable energy manufacturing capacity and putting us on the path for our future prosperity,» he added.
Abound Solar also collected an additional $110 million in equity financing, bringing its total equity investment to approximately $260 million since it started in 2007.
The company found support in its existing roster of investors, which includes Invus Group, Bohemian Companies, D.C.M. and Technology Partners. New investors included B.P. Alternative Energy Ventures and West Hill Companies.
