SunPower Announces New Solar Panel Manufacturing Facility

SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWRA, SPWRB), a manufacturer of high-efficiency solar cells, solar panels and solar systems, today announced plans to own and operate a solar panel manufacturing facility in Mexicali, Mexico to meet the demand of a growing North American solar market.

SunPower plans to lease an existing building, which has up to 320,000 square feet of capacity. Today's announcement is consistent with SunPower's strategy to expand its upstream vertical integration for local panel manufacturing. SunPower will manufacture its high-efficiency E18 series, E19 series and world record setting E20 series solar panels for residential, commercial and power plant projects, and will also produce its SunPower® T5 Solar Roof Tile system.  

SunPower worked closely with the Industrial Development Commission of Mexicali in locating its facility.

"Mexicali is rapidly becoming an industrial hub for high tech companies, offering an educated workforce and a growing manufacturing area," said Mexicali Mayor Francisco Perez Tejada Padilla.  "We welcome SunPower to our city and are pleased that they have chosen Mexicali to establish its solar panel manufacturing facility."

"Establishing our own manufacturing facility in Mexicali means we will be positioned to quickly deliver our high-efficiency, high-reliability solar products to a growing North American solar market," said Marty Neese, SunPower's chief operating officer.  "Over the past year, we have successfully ramped up manufacturing at Fab 3 in Malaysia where we set records for output and yield efficiency.  SunPower also launched manufacturing in California, with a facility in Silicon Valley, and expanded our panel manufacturing in Europe."

About SunPower

SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWRA, SPWRB) designs, manufactures and delivers the highest efficiency, highest reliability solar panels and systems available today. Residential, business, government and utility customers rely on the company's quarter century of experience and guaranteed performance to provide maximum return on investment throughout the life of the solar system. Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., SunPower has offices in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. For more information, visit www.sunpowercorp.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Forward-looking statements are statements that do not represent historical facts and may be based on underlying assumptions. The company uses words and phrases such as "growing," "plans," "will" and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements in this press release, including forward-looking statements regarding (a) the growth of the North American market for solar, and (b) SunPower's planned expansion of its manufacturing.  Such forward-looking statements are based on information available to the company as of the date of this release and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, some beyond the company's control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by these forward-looking statements, including risks and uncertainties such as:  (i) the continuation of governmental and related economic incentives promoting the use of solar power; (ii) general business and economic conditions; (iii) manufacturing difficulties; (iv) the company's ability to obtain and maintain an adequate supply of raw materials; and (v) other risks described in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 2, 2011, Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended April 3, 2011 and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the company's views as of any subsequent date, and the company is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any responsibility to, update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SunPower is a registered trademark of SunPower Corp. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE SunPower Corp.