HelioVolt, Suntech Cut Employees Too As Layoffs Expand Around Solar

HelioVolt, the maker of copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) solar cells, has joined the layoff club too.

The company, which has raised over $100 million in VC funds, cut about 15 employees earlier this month, according to the Austin American Statesman. It’s not a huge number, but HelioVolt is not a massive operation either. It is just moving into production.

The layoff list is growing by the day. Last week, OptiSolar said it was cutting about300 employees, or half of the staff. After we ran that story, a person who got laid off by SunEdison said that the solar power provider cut about 50 to 65 employees. GT Solar cut 25 jobs in December.

Meanwhile, Suntech Power Holdings, the Chinese giant that now has 1GW of capacity, cut about 10 percent of its staff of 8,000 last quarter. (More on this coming up from Ucilia Wang). CEO Zhegrong Shi has said that the company may have to cut panel prices by 25 to 30 percent to counteract an industry wide oversupply.

And we’re chasing rumors of a few more layoffs. And the layoffs seem to be spread among both panel makers and installers.

Ugh.