Press Releases
Calisolar Awarded Tax Credit by President Obama for Building US Solar Cell Manufacturing Facility
Sunnyvale, California Company Expects to Create 150 New Jobs in 2010
January 12, 2010 • Marketwire • Sunnyvale, CA
Calisolar Inc. was awarded a clean energy manufacturing tax credit of $51.6 million. Calisolar’s tax credit is part of $2.3 billion allocated by Congress as part of the American Recover and Reinvestment Act which is expected to create over 17,000 US jobs. Calisolar was selected based on merit after a review of criteria including domestic job creation, impact on reducing pollution, potential for technological innovation and commercial deployment and project time from certification to completion.
The tax credit will be used to accelerate the completion of Calisolar’s manufacturing facility in Sunnyvale, California. Calisolar’s goal is to increase the capacity of its facility from 60MW to over 200MW, which will increase its US employee base to over 200 in 2010. In October, Calisolar began production of solar cells, the critical components in solar panels that convert sunlight into electricity. Calisolar cells are in the final stages of qualification at multiple, global panel manufacturers with commercial shipments expected to begin in early 2010.
“We are honored to be awarded the 48C tax credit out of over 500 US leaders in clean technology,” said Roy Johnson, CEO of Calisolar. “The credit will allow us to quickly create jobs and implement our technological approach to delivering low-cost, high-performance solar energy.”