San Francisco, United States [RenewableEnergyWorld.com] BP Solar has reached an agreement with Jabil Circuit Inc. to manufacture BP Solar modules for the European market in Jabil’s plant in Poland. The agreement calls for an initial capacity of 45 megawatts (MW) in 2009 with the opportunity for expansion as demand increases.
Jabil will manufacture modules designed by BP Solar and BP’s quality assurance standards will be integrated into Jabil’s processes. Reyad Fezzani, CEO of BP Solar said BP is pleased to inaugurate the partnership with Jabil in Europe – one of the most important markets for BP Solar.
“We have selected Jabil as our partner to help bring down the cost of manufacturing BP’s proprietary solar products, and help continue to deliver the highest lifetime value to our customers,” Fezzani said. “We are confident that Jabil’s focus on manufacturing excellence will meet BP Solar’s exacting standards for safety reliability and product quality,” said Fezzani.
In April, BP Solar announced plans to restructure its global manufacturing activities by closing plants and eliminating jobs. The company said that this would reduce its unit costs by 25 percent by the end of 2010.
As a result of that decision, module assembly at Frederick, Maryland was to be phased out. Silicon casting, wafering, sizing and solar cell production will continue at the site. The end of module assembly at Frederick resulted in the elimination of approximately 140 jobs out of around 600.
