First Solar said Monday that it has purchased a 150-megawatt power project in Southern California.
Construction is expected to start this year and finish in 2014. The Tempe company said that the plant could generate enough electricity to power more than 60,000 average California homes.
First Solar Inc. bought the project, which is near El Centro, Calif., from Goldman Sachs Group Inc., energy investment firm Energy Power Partners and a third partner that it didn’t identify. It didn’t say how much it paid.
First Solar, one of the largest solar panel manufacturers in the world, also develops and builds large solar farms that generate electricity sold to utilities.
Its stock added 28 cents, or 1 percent, to $27.24 in afternoon trading.
The industry has in recent years been struggling with a steep drop in solar panel prices. Demand stagnated while manufacturing capacity increased and costs for raw materials plummeted.
