Siemens Solar (Munich, Germany) announced it is opening a facility in the Los Angeles area, attracted by an incentive program offered that can cut their installation costs by more than half.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) has offered discounts of $5 per watt for customers who buy solar panels made in the city, and the Siemens facility will be the first to qualify for the incentive. LADWP has budgeted a total of $8.0 million for its solar panel incentive program, which it believes holds the potential of creating 2MW of photovoltaic energy, or enough to power 600 homes annually. LADWP said an average system producing 2KW of electricity, enough to supply 20 to 60 percent of the needs of an average home, would cost around $8,000 with the incentive, representing a discount of about 56 percent.
The new Siemens plant will employ about 50 people.
