Salem's Sanyo Solar To Lay Off 52 Workers As Industry Fallout Continues

The Sanyo Solar plant in Salem that opened three years ago with nearly $45 million in government subsidies will lay off 52 employees, joining other companies in Oregon that have been hammered by declining profits as the price of solar panels drops.

The firm will continue to employ about 150 people to manufacture ingots, the cylindrical blocks of crystalline silicon that make up the base material of solar power cells, said a spokesman for Panasonic Corporation. Panasonic acquired Sanyo last year.

Sanyo's ingots "are very well done, they are a bright spot in our manufacturing process," said Aaron Fowles, the spokesman.

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