SunPower Announces China JV Agreement

SunPower

, a Silicon Valley-based manufacturer of high-efficiency solar cells, solar panels and solar systems, today announced that it  signed a definitive agreement to form a joint venture with partners Tianjin Zhonghuan Semiconductor (TZS), Inner Mongolia Power Group (IMP) and Hohhot Jinqiao City Development Company (HJCD) for the manufacturing and deployment of the company's proprietary SunPower® C7 Tracker (C7) concentrator technology in the Chinese market. The joint venture, based in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, PRC, will manufacture and deploy SunPower's high efficiency, C7 concentrator solar systems in Inner Mongolia and other regions in China.  Under the terms of the definitive agreement, SunPower will invest $15 million, of the total capitalization of the joint venture of $60 million, for a 25 percent ownership stake.  The joint venture is subject to the approval of the PRC government with initial C7 deployment expected to begin by the end of 2013.    "This agreement capitalizes on the capability of SunPower's next generation C7 technology to deliver industry leading cost effective energy," said Tom Werner, SunPower president and