GOODYEAR, Az., September 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STP), the world's largest producer of solar panels, today announced that its Goodyear, Arizona manufacturing plant has been selected by Arizona Business Magazine and BestCompaniesAZ as one of 40 winners for the 2012 Arizona's Most Admired Companies Awards (MAC). All 40 winners were recognized at an awards reception in Phoenix and are featured in the September/October issue of AZ Business Magazine.
Arizona's Most Admired Companies are selected based on how a company has performed in the following areas: Workplace Culture, Leadership Excellence, Corporate and Social Responsibility and Customer Opinion.
"This is the most comprehensive and most prestigious corporate awards program in Arizona. It recognizes the contributions and impact these 'most admired companies' bring to the state," said Denise Gredler, Founder & CEO of BestCompaniesAZ and co-founder of the MAC program.
"We are honored that our Goodyear facility has been recognized as one of the best places to work in Arizona," said Jerry Liu, General Manager of Suntech Arizona. "We are able to attract incredible talent because we have a commitment to the growth, well-being, and satisfaction of our employees. More than anything, it's our people that differentiate Suntech in a highly-competitive PV manufacturing industry."
Suntech's Goodyear, Arizona facility was opened in October 2010. The 117,000 square foot facility features highly automated manufacturing and product testing equipment and currently produces Suntech's 290W multicrystalline silicon solar panels for commercial and utility-scale electricity generation. Solar panels produced at Suntech's Goodyear facility are compliant for procurement in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and Buy American Act projects.
Suntech's Goodyear operation has steadily increased its workforce, adding a second shift in January 2011 and a third shift in May 2011. The state-of-the-art module manufacturing facility runs twenty-four hours per day with more than 100 skilled employees, approximately 75 percent of whom were hired out of unemployment, showing the solar industry's ability to create jobs. The facility's annualized production throughput is nearly 50MW, representing about 15,000 high-quality solar panels per month, or enough to power about 6,000 homes.
To learn more about Suntech, please visit the Suntech Connect blog, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @Suntech_Connect for regular updates.
About Suntech
Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STP) produces industry-leading solar products for residential, commercial, industrial, and utility applications. With regional headquarters in China, Switzerland, and the United States, and gigawatt-scale manufacturing worldwide, Suntech has delivered more than 25,000,000 photovoltaic panels to over a thousand customers in more than 80 countries. Suntech's pioneering R&D creates customer-centric innovations that are driving solar to grid parity against fossil fuels. Suntech's mission is to provide everyone with reliable access to nature's cleanest and most abundant energy source. For more information about Suntech's people and products visit: http://www.suntech-power.com
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements constitute "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements including the facility's annualized production throughput, the number of solar panels per month this throughput represents, and the number of homes this throughput can power. Such statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in Suntech's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form 20-F. Suntech does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law.
For further information, please contact
Walker Frost
Communications Manager, Suntech
+1 (415) 268-8881
walker.frost@suntech-power.com
Denise Gredler
Founder & CEO, BestCompaniesAZ
+1 (480) 545-5151
dgredler@bestcompaniesaz.com
