U.S. solar company GAF Energy moving production back home from Asia

A small U.S. solar company, GAF Energy, said on Tuesday it would move its manufacturing out of Asia to a new facility in Silicon Valley as it seeks to develop a next-generation technology to integrate solar panels with roof shingles.
The company’s move represents the reverse of the years-long trend in the solar industry of moving production to Asia to capitalize on lower-cost labor. The rise of cheap, foreign-made panels over the past decade has enabled solar energy to become cost-competitive with fossil fuels in the United States.
The components for GAF Energy’s building-integrated solar products are currently produced in South Korea, but manufacturing will be shifted to the new San Jose, California, factory beginning later this year, according to Martin DeBono, president of the company, which is a unit of private conglomerate Standard Industries.