Germany-based multinational technology conglomerate
Siemens announced Tuesday that it plans to manufacture photovoltaic string inverters at
Sanmina’s facility in Pleasant Prairie. Photovoltaics is the conversion of light into electricity (solar power) using semiconducting materials.
San Jose, California-based Sanmina is an electronics manufacturer that serves OEMs in the communications and hardware fields, and is a long-time manufacturing partner of Siemens.
Siemens said Sanmina’s Pleasant Prairie facility will help it “meet increased demand for localized production of critical parts for photovoltaic projects while helping customers take advantage of the full value of solar tax credits and domestic content incentives.”
Siemens' work at the Sanmina facility in Pleasant Prairie will create up to a dozen jobs during the initial ramp-up period with plans to grow employment at the facility and through the regional supply chain in the future, Siemens said.
The Siemens production at the facility is expected to begin in early 2024 and will scale up to a capacity of 5,200 string inverters per year, the company said. The string inverters, which will range from 125 to 155 kilowatts, will be manufactured with a California Energy Commission efficiency of 99%. The inverters are designed for 1000- or 1500-volt DC solar array input and can be utilized for either decentralized or virtual central design architectures, the company said.
Production at the Pleasant Prairie facility joins a growing family of Siemens infrastructure manufacturing hubs across the U.S., the company said.
“This new production line at the Sanmina facility represents Siemens’ strategic priorities to best serve our U.S. customers while being a key partner in our nation’s transition to a more sustainable future,” said Ruth Gratzke, president of Siemens Smart Infrastructure USA. “The investments we’re making in communities like Kenosha (Pleasant Prairie) and the work that we will be doing to bring renewable infrastructure to life will have a crucial impact as we work towards our net-zero goals as a country.”
Siemens made the announcement in conjunction with President Joe Biden’s visit to Milwaukee on Tuesday. Biden spoke at the
Ingeteam plant in Milwaukee. Ingeteam, based in Spain, makes generators and converters for wind turbines and solar power inverters at its Milwaukee plant.
This is the second time this month that a foreign company announced plans to partner with Sanmina on a manufacturing project at its Pleasant Prairie plant. Finish-based telecommunications company
Nokia announced that in 2024, it will begin manufacturing fiber-optic broadband network electronics products at
Sanmina’s Pleasant Prairie facility.
The partnership between the companies is expected to create up to 200 jobs at the facility.
By manufacturing its products in Pleasant Prairie, Nokia will be the first company to make products that will be used in the United States’ Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. The BEAD program aims to narrow the digital divide across the U.S. and contribute to economic growth and job creation. Having access to technology that is built in the U.S. is a key consideration for states and infrastructure players that want to take part in the BEAD program and the $42 billion of available federal funding allocated for broadband rollouts to unserved and underserved communities.
Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at the Sanmina plant to tout the partnership between Sanmina and Nokia, and the BEAD program.
