Tuesday, October 16, 2012

SunPower Slashes Staff

San Jose-based SunPower Corp, the developer of solar panels and systems, has slashed its staff, saying it will cut approximately 900 employees, primarily in the Philippines. The company said the move is part of a restructuring to help it "streamline" manufacturing operations, lower costs, and improve its efficiency. SunPower, like many other American solar panel manufacturers, has been battered by intense global competition and dropping costs for solar products, particularly from overseas and countries like China. SunPower said that, as part of its move, it wil temporarily idle six of the 12 lines on its Fab 2 cell manufacturing plant, and 20 percent of panel manufacturing in the Philippines.