SunPower will close factory in Hillsboro, lay off 170

HILLSBORO, Ore. (AP) — SunPower says it will close the former SolarWorld factory in Hillsboro, laying off 170 people in ongoing manufacturing setbacks at the site.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reports Japanese semiconductor producer Komatsu Silicon America spent $500 million to build the plant during the 1990s but never opened it.

SunPower began production there in 2018, but amid shifting dynamics in the highly competitive solar industry scaled back almost immediately.

Last year, it said it would sell the Hillsboro property to Japanese technology giant NTT, which said it would build a server farm on the site.

SunPower said at the time that it planned to continue making solar products there, but said Thursday that it would not.