Flextronics commits to serve OEMs in the Solar Industry

In conjunction with Solar Power International 2008 and in response to customer demand and advanced technology requirements in the solar industry, Flextronics has underscored its commitment to support the manufacturing requirements of solar OEMs with complex market delivery requirements in an increasingly competitive environment. As part of this commitment, Flextronics' Industrial segment created a global team dedicated to advanced solar solutions that operates in designated centers of excellence to support solar customers worldwide. This team, which has been ramping new solar customers during the past 24 months, leverages Flextronics' global scale and company-wide core competencies in design, manufacturing and after-market services and support to deliver the economies of scale necessary to help solar customers accelerate the realization of grid parity. As a result of its focused solar solutions, Flextronics has been recognized by several OEMs as the partner-of-choice to complete their market strategies.

Flextronics Industrial's commitment to support solar OEMs is reflected in the organization's solar solutions portfolio, which is a significant competitive differentiator and includes expertise in the following markets: 

    -- Semiconductor capital equipment, energy and electro-mechanical equipment

    -- Solar capital equipment

    -- PV module assembly and manufacturing

    -- PV component assembly

    -- Photovoltaic concentrators

    -- Balance of System (BOS) products

Solar OEMs are increasingly leveraging the supply chain and operational efficiencies of global Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) providers for agile and scalable program ramp and management. With its robust solutions for both low-volume, high-mix and high-volume, low-mix infrastructures, Flextronics is uniquely positioned to help deliver scalable manufacturing and supply chain solutions to the solar market, quickly and at a lower landed cost. Oerlikon Solar recently partnered with Flextronics' Industrial segment to help meet Oerlikon Solar's scalability requirements for global production capacity. In addition, leading solar technology provider Carmanah recently announced a partnership with Flextronics' Industrial segment to help maximize the efficiency of its supply chain while providing a flexible infrastructure for scalable growth.

This need for scalable growth and low-cost, efficient market delivery solutions continues to increase for solar organizations and Flextronics is committed to enhancing its solar solutions portfolio to support these OEMs.

"This summer, we announced updates to our solar market strategy with a key component being the selection of Flextronics as our strategic EMS partner based on the organization's portfolio and commitment to deliver advanced solar solutions that will improve our overall operational efficiency," said Philippe Favreau, COO, Carmanah. "We believe Flextronics, with its flexible, global infrastructure, has the right set of solar capabilities to help our organization quickly scale to meet growth objectives in the competitive solar industry."

"Flextronics' Industrial segment is well suited to partner with solar OEMs and is committed to help these OEMs address advanced design and global market distribution requirements with the ability to quickly ramp and scale to meet growing demand," said EC Sykes, president of Flextronics Industrial. "Our dedication to provide customers with a complete solar solutions offering is unmatched and we are very pleased to be among the first EMS companies to provide a dedicated, advanced solar solutions team to address the needs of this industry. We are also proud to support the global solar initiative toward environmentally-conscious solutions and to contribute to the renewable energy efforts of companies in these areas that are quickly making real solutions out of creative ideas."

For additional information:

www.flextronics.com