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BP Solar To Stop Module Assembly in Maryland

April 2, 2009 | 5 Comments

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Maryland, United States [RenewableEnergyWorld.com] In an effort to cut costs in a tough economic climate, BP Solar announced plans to restructure its global manufacturing activities by closing plants and eliminating jobs. The company said that this will reduce its unit costs by 25 percent by the end of 2010.

"We deeply regret the impact of this business decision on our employees and the local community."

-- Reyad Fezzani, CEO, BP Solar

"The decision is part of our long term strategy to grow our solar business by reducing the cost of solar power to that of conventional electricity delivered through a modern power grid, and in time without the need for government subsidy,” said Reyad Fezzani, CEO of BP Solar.

As a result of the decision, module assembly at Frederick, Maryland will be phased out. Silicon casting, wafering, sizing and solar cell production will continue. The end of module assembly at Frederick will result in the elimination of approximately 140 jobs out of around 600. Workers at the plant were informed of the company's decision earlier in the week.

Also this week, the company also announced the closure of its solar cell manufacturing and module assembly facilities in Madrid, Spain with the loss of approximately 480 positions out of 575. All affected eligible employees will receive job placement assistance and transitional resources.

“We deeply regret the impact of this business decision on our employees and the local community,” Fezzani said. “We have a long history at both the Frederick and Madrid sites. Competitive high-tech manufacturing of ingots, wafers and cells will continue at Frederick. Engineering, technology product development, sales and marketing and other business support functions will also remain at both Frederick and Madrid.”

In 2009 BP Solar said that it has the raw material resources and capability to manufacture and sell up to 320 megawatts in modules, a 100 percent increase from 2008.

Solar Energy

5 Reader Comments

Comment
1 of 5

edward-wilhelm-75955

April 3, 2009

Shame on BP. At a time when people need jobs,and solar modules are in demand. I bet they move operations to Asia. Mr.Fezzani , your deep regret really baffles me. I hope you get a really big bonus for cutting costs.

Comment
2 of 5

mike-miller-78300

April 3, 2009

It doesn't make any sense to stop the assembly of these components. They have to be assembled somewhere or nobody is going to buy them. Why not at their own plant with there own work force in the USA? Maybe because BP doesn't really care about the US because it is British Petroleum.

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3 of 5

gary-leger-172884

April 3, 2009

It sounds like they have too much module manufacturing capacity and are cutting their higher labor costs, which usually means the U.S. and Europe? This seems to fit in with other manufacturers press releases that their 2009 growth will be slower than in the past few years?

Comment
4 of 5

darrin-green-149798

April 4, 2009

BP did have the edge in my projects due to the fact that they were made & assembled here in the USA. They will be removed from my list of preferred panel manufactures for my projects.

Comment
5 of 5

marcusmaedl

April 4, 2009

Come on guys, let's keep things in perspective..

It says:
"Silicon casting, wafering, sizing and solar cell production will continue. The end of module assembly at Frederick will result in the elimination of approximately 140 jobs out of around 600."

that means, the high profit and value adding portion of the business remains in the US. The lamination, framing and wiring steps go other BP fabs (or subcontractors) around the world.

This is a very global industry and BP has to follow logic and brutal reality in market price developments - just like everybody else.

I would imagine that BP modules remain still a lot more "American Made" than most other major US brands who have theirs manufactured in China and then private label them - with nothing but the sales department being American.

If this industry wants to be truly successful, we need to see prices of systems installed below $3.00/W within a few years. That will require a lot of painful reorganization, consolidation and careful investment.

Going forward, I would imagine that like with the automotive industry, only a hand full of global players remain in production at one point. BP can still choose to be one of them....

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