BP Solar, a unit of BP (NYSE) announced an agreement with Jabil Circuit, Inc. (NYSE: JBL) to assemble BP Solar modules for the North American market in Jabil’s plant in Chihuahua, Mexico. The agreement calls for an initial capacity of 45 megawatts (MW) with the opportunity for expansion as demand increases. Production will begin in 2Q10.
This agreement builds on a relationship that began with the October 2009 announcement of a 45-MW deal for Jabil to manufacture BP Solar modules in Poland for the European market. Since that time, BP Solar has ordered a second 45-MW module assembly line at the Poland facility to feed continued strong European market growth.
“We are very pleased to add cost competitive module assembly manufacturing with Jabil in North America,” said Reyad Fezzani, CEO of BP Solar. “We expect the North American and European solar markets to grow significantly over the next several years and this contract will help ensure that we can meet demand for our highest life time value products, and services.”
Fezzani stressed that Jabil (www.jabil.com) will assemble various BP Solar-designed and branded modules for the residential, commercial and utility markets at its Mexico plant from solar cells manufactured around the globe by BP Solar and third party manufacturers.
Michael Petrucci, vice president of global operations, BP Solar said, “Our partnership with Jabil continues to gain momentum as we expand our regional assembly and distribution center in Poland, and initiate manufacturing in Mexico. Mexico is strategic in improving module time-to-market for our North American customers. Jabil’s proven track record for delivering high quality modules continues to be a cornerstone for BP Solar’s fulfillment strategy.”
Jabil also manufactures solar panels for SunPower Corp (Nasdaq: SPWRA; SPWRB) in Mexico.
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