Intel Plugs Into Solar Power

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.thestreet.com/s/intel-plugs-into-solar-power/newsanalysis/techsemis/10421606.html?puc=googlen&cm_ven=GOOGLEN&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA

Intel Plugs Into Solar Power

2008-06-16 16:21:21.0

SAN FRANCISCO Intel is joining the growing ranks of chipmakers with solar energy aspirations, announcing the spinoff of its key photovoltaic assets into a new standalone company Monday.

Intel's investment arm, Intel Capital, will lead a $50 million funding round in the new company, to be called SpectraWatt. Goldman Sachs subsidiary Cogentrix Energy will also pitch in on the deal, along with a couple of other investors.

The company is expected to begin shipping products by mid-2009, with construction of a new manufacturing facility in Oregon slated for later this year.

Earlier Monday, IBM announced a partnership with Japan's Tokyo Ohka Kogyo, a semiconductor manufacturing equipment firm, to develop low-cost methods for producing solar energy products.

...

[cliss]

1. Very, very cool.

In related news, the German solar company Solar World is currently building a factory in Hillsboro Oregon. It's a $100 million facility and will employ several hundred workers.

It looks like they've got their first customer (Intel is also in Hillsboro).