Mass. firm to produce solar panels in China

By subcontracting with Jiawei Solar Co. in Wuhan, China, Evergreen will be able to expand its solar panel-making operation for less money than it could by building at other locations in the United States, said officials at the company, which is based in Marlborough.

Evergreen said it expects to complete its manufacturing deal with Jiawei over the next three months. Chief executive Rick Feldt, speaking from China during an earnings call earlier this week, said his company will lease a factory being built on Jiawei's campus that is expected to cost between $40 million and $50 million. Evergreen officials hope to get financing for at least two-thirds of that cost - leaving the company to pay $15 million to $20 million.

Feldt said the new facility would use a mix of US, European, and Chinese equipment.

"We don't want to end up just re-creating Devens in China and not take advantage of the cost structure here," Feldt said, adding that Evergreen believes the Chinese facility could manufacture panels for about $1.50 per watt. The goal is to drop that cost to $1 a watt by the end of 2012.

At the plant at former Fort Devens, where production capacity has been expanding, Evergreen Solar officials said they hope to produce solar panels for $2 a watt by the end of the year.

On Thursday, the company said its first-quarter revenues more than doubled from the same quarter last year, to $55.8 million. But it also lost $64.3 million in the first quarter of this year, in part, after writing off a loan to a silicon supplier.

Erin Ailworth can be reached at eailworth@globe.com.