Sun Power taps $75-million loan for solar panel plant

MANILA, Philippines - US-based Sun Power Corp. has tapped a $75-million loan from the International Finance Corp. (IFC), the private sector lending arm of the World Bank, to finance its proposed second solar fabrication facility in the Philippines.

The total project cost has been estimated to reach $475 million.

With the second solar cell fabrication facility, SunPower takes another step closer to its goal of making the Philippines as its main solar panel manufacturing hub in Asia.

The new line to be built will bring the total capacity of SunPower’s solar cell manufacturing lines to 466 megawatts (MW).

“IFC’s presence in the project will help the company attract other long-term financiers, especially from local financial institutions, and signal to the market that renewable energy is an important industry to finance in emerging markets,” the World Bank arm said.

The second solar facility will be located at the First Philippine Industrial Park in Sto. Tomas, Batangas and is expected to generate around 2,000 jobs.

SunPower’s first facility was built inside the Laguna Technopark in Biñan, Laguna.

According to IFC, SunPower’s project will support the production of solar cells, to provide renewable energy.

IFC has been supportive of clean energy projects worldwide. “Assuming a module life of 25 years, the project will directly avoid an estimated 90-100 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions, assuming the electrical energy they produce is instead produced through conventional fossil fuel generated electricity,” the agency said.

It noted that the project will increase the availability of high-performance and cost-effective solar cells, “which is expected to accelerate the solar industry’s goal to reach grid parity, such that solar energy is an economically viable energy source without government subsidy.”

SunPower presently exports its solar panels to Europe, Japan and the US. It is not directly selling in the Philippines.

The Nasdaq-listed SunPower is a global player in the solar industry. In 2008, it generated revenues of $1.43 billion.

Founded in 1985, the company is an affiliate of US technology firm Cypress Semiconductor.