Arco Solar Plans to Build 2nd Ventura County Plant

Arco Solar, the world’s leading maker of solar energy cells, plans to build a second manufacturing plant in Ventura County in 1988 or 1989, company officials say.

Chatsworth-based Arco Solar would not disclose how much the plant will cost or how many people it will employ. The company said, however, that it is looking for about 30 acres for the factory.

Most likely, the site will be in Simi Valley, Camarillo or Oxnard, said James H. Caldwell Jr., the company’s president. Arco Solar employs about 200 people at its Camarillo plant, which is on a seven-acre site, and another 75 at its headquarters in Chatsworth.

22% Market Share

Arco Solar is a 9-year-old subsidiary of Atlantic Richfield. The company held about a 22% share of the $135-million worldwide market for solar cells last year, according to Strategies Unlimited, a Mountain View, Calif.-based market research firm.

Despite sales growth of about 25% to 30% annually since the company was launched, Arco Solar has yet to turn a profit. Last year, it spent 35% to 40% of its revenue on research and development.

Expansion Plans for 1990s

Plummeting oil prices have made solar energy less attractive recently. Arco Solar expects solar energy to become economical by the 1990s, however, and is planning to expand production of solar cells for commercial products such as calculators, watches, computers and toys.

The second Ventura County plant would produce such cells, mostly for the North American market.

To cultivate business with electronics manufacturers in the Far East, Arco Solar has announced that it is teaming up with Showa Shell Sekiyu, one of Japan’s largest oil companies, to manufacture solar cells in Tokyo.