Stion said that the first phase of the solar panel production facility includes a 100MW line planned for Hattiesburg, Mississippi, with an initial investment of $500m.

Stion plans to manufacture the solar panels in an approximately 300,000sq ft of the Hattiesburg facility.

Stion is producing high-efficiency, thin-film solar panels using monolithically integrated circuits.

Mississippi governor Haley Barbour said that the announcement that Stion is locating a thin-film solar panel manufacturing facility in Hattiesburg is further proof that Mississippi is an ideal location for clean energy companies to locate and expand.

In June 2010, Stion closed a $70m Series D financing to help scale production, which included a partnership with Taiwan Semiconductor.