STR Holdings (STRH), a provider of solar encapsulants to the PV module industry, has acquired land and a 275,000sqft building in East Windsor, Connecticut to complete the planned expansion of its Connecticut manufacturing capacity to about 3.0GW in 2011.
STR plans to relocate the majority of its US manufacturing to the new facility, which will also house the company’s US-based product management and sales teams and a new 20,000sqft research and development laboratory.
The company plans to move its equipments from its current facilities in Enfield and Somers, Connecticut into the new facility during the next 9 to 12 months, following which it will begin work on installing 1.2GW of new production equipment in Connecticut during the third quarter of 2011.
The expansion project is estimated to cost about $19m, $5m of which is planned to be spent in 2010, with the balance incurred in 2011.
STR Holdings chairman president and CEO Dennis Jilot said that the acquisition of the new East Windsor facility marks another important milestone for STR Solar.
"This facility will provide ample space to increase Connecticut production capacity up to approximately 6.0GW in support of our continued strong growth and to enable us to increase our industry-leading innovation with a new research and development facility," Jilot said.