BATTLE CREEK - United Solar Ovonic's plan to build a 265,000- square-foot, 120-megawatt solar production facility in Battle Creek's Fort Custer Industrial Park is part of a much larger overall growth strategy to rapidly expand capacity to meet the rising demand for solar products all over the world. That strategy includes building a new United Solar manufacturing facility about every six months through the year 2012, said Mark Trinske, vice president of investor relations for Energy Conversion Devices of Auburn Hills, the parent company of United Solar.

United Solar manufactures and sells thin-film solar laminates that convert sunlight to energy using proprietary technology. United Solar products, which are distributed globally under the UNI-SOLAR brand, are unique in the market, Trinske said.

Most people are familiar with the glass picture-frame type of solar panel. The UNI-SOLAR product is a thin, flexible laminate that's 15 inches wide and 18 feet long. Its flexibility allows it to be shipped in rolls and then rolled out and applied directly to the roof of a building, so it looks just like roofing material, Trinske explained. The product is warranted for 20 years.

"It's attractive from an architectural point of view, and it's not made with any glass or polysilicon, so we don't have any breakage issues," he said. "It's very lightweight - about half the weight of a glass panel - so it can be applied on roofs that can't stand the extra weight of glass panels. We're doing very well with the product on commercial rooftops around the world."

The Battle Creek facility will create about 350 new jobs at the company within its first three years of operation, and the company will be looking to fill jobs across a broad spectrum, from front- office support staff to technicians to high-level operations managers, Trinske said. He said the company will start construction in a few weeks and, upon receiving certification, will move its equipment in, most likely during the January to March 2009 timeframe. Trinske said the facility will be producing at full capability by September 2010.

In what could prove to be another boon to the Battle Creek area, United Solar has an option to build a second $220 million twin solar cell manufacturing facility in Fort Custer that would create another 350 jobs down the road. As the company continues to it grow, will look for manufacturing sites internationally, as well, Trinske said. Presently, about 70 percent of UNI-SOLAR products are installed in Europe.