First Philec Solar Corp. (FPSC), a joint venture between SunPower subsidiary SunPower Philippines Manufacturing Ltd and First Philippine Electric Corp., announced that its 2010 expansion is expected to be completed by September 2010.

The expansion will increase capacity at the Philippine solar wafer manufacturing facility to about 540MW, with 87 wiresaws slicing silicon ingots to produce about 220 million wafers a year. The expansion adds 12,700m2 to the facility south of Manila, and doubles the workforce to about 860.

FPSC’s cutting-edge wiresaws are capable of producing micro-thin wafers with excellent surface quality, handling ingots with diameters from 150nm to 200mm and producing wafers 200m to 150m thick. It has fully automated inspection and cleaning systems that minimize manual handling. It offers quick cycle time with packaging, labeling and shipping tailored fit to customer requirements. Plus, strong R&D enables the company to optimize process conditions and materials consumption.

Two years down the road and the company is hoping this September to receive recognition as a member of the Palladium Balanced Scorecard Hall of Fame for Executing Strategy. Companies already in the hall of fame include Canon USA, Tata Motors, Volkswagen do Brasil, Korea East-West Power, Mobil North America Marketing & Refining, North Delhi Power Ltd, Dupont (Engineering Polymers), Ingersoll Rand, AT&T Canada, Korea Telecom and LG.Philips LCD.

Although FPSC’s largest customer is SunPower it also seeks to provide wafers to other companies, and in February, was qualified by a third party manufacturer of high-efficiency monocrystalline silicon solar cells and modules. Before the year ends, the company anticipates to be qualified by more customers to add to the growing roster of global clients.