Massachusetts-based solar cell manufacturer Evergreen Solar, bellwether of the Bay State’s push for clean energy, announced on Wednesday its plans to move solar panel assembly to China.
The statement, appearing in the company’s filing of earnings for the
third quarter of 2009, arrives less than a year after Evergreen opened
the doors to its much-lauded plant in Devens, the recipient of $58.6
million in state aid. Of the 577 full-time and 230 contract workers at
the Devens location, half are involved in assembling the panels, though
the company declined to comment on how many would lose their jobs as a
result of the move.

From the Boston Globe:

In a statement [Wednesday] night, Evergreen said it
“remains committed to the investment it has made in Massachusetts.
Marlborough is the home of our company headquarters and R&D
facilities. Devens will continue to be our US manufacturing location
for wafer and cell production, and our staffing plans will remain well
within the employment commitment we made to the state when we first
announced our plans to build the Devens fac