SolarWorld USA, the country’s largest solar panel manufacturer, has laid off 23 employees at its Camarillo office, with additional employees being laid off at its Hillsboro, Ore. plant. The company cited the difficult market for solar products in the U.S. due to an influx of Chinese products. The U.S. International Trade Commission earlier this month approved new tariffs on Chinese solar imports, but that doesn’t change the current market, company spokeswoman Devon Cichoski told the Business Journal. “Compared to a lot of other manufacturing companies, SolarWorld has weathered the storm better than others,” Cichoski said. “But the difficulty is going to continue into 2013 because of China.” The eliminated positions in Camarillo were in sales, marketing and human resources. Two additional Camarillo employees were offered different positions at the same location. The company laid off 37 employees at the Hillsboro location, with 12 of those offered other positions in the company. Cichoski said the company will keep the Camarillo office open. Sixty employees continue to work at the location in sales, marketing and engineering.
