BP Solar, a unit of BP Plc (BP.L) said on Friday it has stopped assembly work at its plant in Frederick, Maryland as part of a previously announced plan to shutter its high-cost manufacturing facilities.
Roughly 320 people, out of 430 employed at the Maryland facility, will be let go, the company said. It is planning to keep positions in sales and marketing, research and technology, project development and business support.
BP Solar, which told Reuters in November it was planning to phase out module assembly at its Maryland plant, has been hit hard by falling prices for its solar systems.
“Solar prices declined between 40 and 50 percent since the onset of the financial and economic crisis, compressing industry margins and driving solar power towards grid competitive pricing,” BP Solar CEO Reyad Fezzani said in a statement.
“By shifting our supply to a high-quality, low-cost supply base to serve both distribution customers and large-scale projects, we have strengthened our position as a provider of competitive solar solutions with our offer of the highest lifetime value,” he added.
The company said that, with the closure of high-cost manufacturing locations, which began in the first quarter of 2009, it has cut unit costs by more than 45 percent.