Solar supplier rides spiral down, lays off 100


One hundred of the 140 workers at a Portland factory will lose their jobs as the global solar industry enters a downward spiral expected to claim more victims.

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One hundred of the 140 workers at a Portland factory will lose their jobs as the global solar industry enters a downward spiral expected to claim more victims.

The MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. factory took an outsize hit from a global retrenchment plan announced by the company Thursday. Worldwide, the Missouri-based company will eliminate about 20 percent of its workforce, or more than 1,300 jobs.

MEMC will continue operating the Portland plant, which uses a unique technology to make silicon ingots for solar cells, said Bill Michalek, MEMC communications director.

Read more in today’s Oregonian.