SunPower CEO says to add U.S. solar jobs

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - SunPower Corp (SPWRA.O) will add jobs to its U.S. operations "immediately" because of the extension in solar power tax credits passed by the government last week, Chief Executive Officer Tom Werner said on Monday.

The company may also build a solar module manufacturing plant in North America by the end of next year, Werner told the Reuters Global Environment Summit.

"We at SunPower will be adding jobs immediately because of the (tax credits)," he said. "This has a big impact on jobs in general, and SunPower is going to be at the forefront of that."

The expansion would add hundreds of positions over the next 18 months to SunPower's current workforce of about 4,000, he added. The company has 1,000 employees in the United States and another 3,000 workers in the Philippines.

Specifically, Werner said that in the United States the company would be adding to its commercial sales division and its dealer support staff, including supply chain management. It also plans to add jobs in states with generous solar subsidies such as California, New Jersey and Colorado, Werner said.

The U.S. government last week extended billions of dollars in tax credits for solar and other renewable energy sources in its financial bailout plan. The bill included a generous eight-year continuation of solar tax credits that the industry says will boost U.S. demand for energy from the sun and create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

The measure gives businesses a 30 percent tax credit to offset the development costs of solar and other clean energy projects, and eliminated a $2,000 cap on tax credits for residential solar systems.

The subsidies narrow the cost gap for solar power to compete with electricity from dirtier but cheaper energy sources such as coal.

Werner said the tax credits would help stimulate demand for large-scale projects sought by utilities -- a segment that many industry analysts believe is crucial to helping drive down the costs of the renewable energy source.

In August, San Jose, California-based SunPower won a contract to supply electricity to Pacific Gas & Electric Co (PCG.N) from its planned 250-megawatt solar ranch planned to start up in 2010. That deal was contingent on the extension of the U.S. tax credits.

Werner said the credit would help spark new demand for solar projects outside of the states of California, Hawaii and New Jersey, which have their own supports for the photovoltaic systems.

The new U.S. tax credits could also prompt many companies that are in the market for solar power systems to buy the equipment rather than lease it from financial institutions, Werner said.

News of the subsidy extension was not enough to insulate solar stocks from a broad market sell-off on Monday, and SunPower's stock ended down 2 percent at $66.34. Solar company shares, which soared during 2007, have suffered during 2008 in part due to general weakness in the stock markets and a global economic slowdown. SunPower's shares are down 49 percent so far this year.

TIGHTER CREDIT

Still, Werner said the global credit crisis that has driven up borrowing costs has still not hurt the solar power market, which has seen demand rise steadily in recent years.

"Is it good? Absolutely not. But is it going to slow things down? We haven't seen that," Werner said.

"As you think of credit moving toward higher quality investments, solar is now seen as one of those higher quality investments," he said.

That strong demand could also keep prices for solar panels firm, Werner said.

Earlier this year, Werner and other industry executives said the fast rising supply of solar equipment and changes to subsidies in Europe could push prices for solar panels down by 10 to 20 percent.

But Europe remains the largest market for solar panels, and a key growth area for SunPower, even with a reduction in subsidies in Spain, one of the fastest growing markets.

"All of southern Europe is growing for us ... we're now emphasizing Germany again (and) Italy will be a very strong growth market for us," he said.

Werner said over the long term, Japan would become a top market for SunPower because of its partnership in residential systems with Toshiba Corp (6502.T).

(For summit blog: summitnotebook.reuters.com/)

( Editing by Brian Moss, Brad Dorfman, Phil Berlowitz)