Chinese Plants Grow on U.S. Turf

摘要

On a spotless factory floor, workers wearing hair nets snap together metal frames, cables, and photovoltaic cells to produce metallic-blue solar panels. This sort of work could be done just about anywhere, yet China's Suntech Power Holdings as of October has been making the panels in a 117,000-square-foot plant in the Arizona desert. The sand-colored factory, about 20 miles west of Phoenix in the town of Goodyear, brings the company closer to its American customers and into compliance with "Buy American" requirements in some government contracts. The strategy seems to be working: Suntech plans to double its 75-person payroll by the end of next year.