The U.S. Department of Energy on Tuesday finalized its $400 million loan guarantee with Longmont-based Abound Solar Manufacturing, a federal Recovery Act project that’s expected to bring 200 jobs to Colorado.
Looking to deploy its groundbreaking thin-film solar-panel technology to the commercial marketplace, the 3-year-old company with its inventive roots in Colorado State University will expand production at its Longmont facility and begin building a massive 800,000-square-foot factory in Tipton, Ind.
Earlier estimates put the number of jobs to be created in Colorado at 300.
The Indiana facility is expected to create 1,000 new jobs, many of them production-line positions. The jobs in Longmont are expected to be largely production as well, chief executive Tom Tiller said in a joint teleconference with Energy Secretary Steven Chu.
The loans are to be repaid within seven years.
About 95 percent of the company’s product is destined for use overseas and in the commercial or utility-based industries.
“Pioneering projects like this are what will help the U.S. recapture the lead when it comes to supporting innovation in the global clean-energy economy,” Chu said. David Migoya, The Denver Post
