Evergreen idles Marlborough plant

Evergreen Solar Inc., a maker of wafers used in solar-power panels, idled production at its plant in Marlborough and expects to incur a $25 million fourth-quarter charge to write down its value.

Evergreen Solar is expanding capacity at a new factory at the former Fort Devens Army base to replace the Marlborough pilot plant, which will continue as a research and development facility, the company said.

The Devens plant shipped 8.5 megawatts of solar modules in the fourth quarter, more than double the output of the Marlborough plant. The plant will reach 40 megawatts of production capacity per quarter in the second half of this year, the Marlborough-based company said.

The statement was released after the close of regular US trading. Evergreen rose 17 cents to $3.60 in Nasdaq trading. The shares have fallen 79 percent in the past year.