SunPower planning U.S. (solar) panel facility

[jpak]

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN104157...

LOS ANGELES, Sept 10 (Reuters) - SunPower Corp (SPWRA.O) plans to make up to a quarter of its solar panels in the United States beginning a year or slightly longer from now, Chief Executive Tom Werner said on Thursday.

"We will produce panels in the United States in four or five quarters," Werner said at the Reuters Global Climate and Alternative Energy Summit in San Francisco.

SunPower, which Werner said also plans to set up production in Europe after the United States, is looking at manufacturing locations in U.S. states near strong solar markets. California, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona are "on the list," he added.

Werner declined to say what the facility would cost to set up or how many people it was expected to employ.

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