Solar manufacturers plan new San Diego facility

The venture, dubbed Reflexite Soitec Optical Technology, fuses Soitec's involvement in the electronics and energy industries and Reflexite's work in microstructured optical components for solar power.



Together, the company's will produce silicone-on-glass (SOG) lens plates that Soitec uses in its concentrator photovoltaic modules while developing other technologies that will increase their efficiency and affordability.



Already, Soitec's Fresnel lens plates are capable of concentrating sunlight more than 500 times and are used in more than 300 megawatts in solar power plant projects through the Southwest U.S. The company was the first to use SOG to produce its lens plate design.



Michael Foley, CEO of Reflexite, said the venture was a good fit considering the company's long-time relationship with Soitec as a supplier of SOG lens plates.



"We have partnered with Soitec for many years to develop a durable, field-tested system that has been deployed successfully around the world, and we will bring all this experience to bear as we build up our common California base of operations together,” said Foley in a press release.



The new San Diego facility, currently in the design phase, will employ approximately 100 people.