Schott Solar shuts down; 250 lose jobs

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Schott Solar never lived up to its promises of high-paying jobs, and now with the decline of the U.S. Solar industry is shutting down its New Mexico plant.

That means 250 people are going to be out of a job.

Schott Solar started telling their employees at the Albuquerque plant at Mesa del Sol Thursday afternoon.

One part of their plant will close Friday laying off 200 people. The rest of the operation will ramp down over the summer with the remaining 50 workers losing their jobs then.

In January 2008 Schott announced its intentions to build a plant year.

It opened its doors in Albuquerque in May 2009 promising 1,500 jobs but at its peak only employed 350

Schott makes solar panels and sells them mostly to businesses.

Company officials say they chose New Mexico because of the abundance of sunshine and the qualified workforce.

The $130 million in incentives didn't hurt either.

Now three years later the company is closing.

Schott did not release a statement Thursday instead saying it will comment after all employees have been told about the closing.

Over the last year, solar operations have been shutting down across the United States unable to keep up with the china and its lower-cost manufacturing processes.