[Update: Shi recanted his remarks, saying he misunderstood a reporter's question.]

Solar module prices are expected to tumble as much as 25% to $2.25-$2.30 per watt by year end from $3 in 2008, according to a Navigant Consulting analyst Paula Mints’ presentation last month at InterSolar North America.

Suntech is planning a US panel assembly plant to save on shipping costs and comply with federal economic stimulus rules that would exclude Chinese-made goods from stimulus-funded projects, according to a story in the New York Times.

Suntech America president Roger Efird told Recharge in an interview in June, “The timing is driven primarily by the buy America movement. It’s not just that in order to access some of the stimulus dollars, you must be made in America. It’s more than that,” he says.

For local elected officials making buying decisions in a down economy, “the politically correct thing to do is to promote buying American”.

A Suntech executive says the location of the factory will be announced in a month or two. The company has narrowed its choices to Phoenix, Arizona, or somewhere in Texas.

Chief executive Chi says Suntech has encouraged its US executives to take leadership positions in US solar trade groups – and Efird is chairman of the Solar Energy Industries Association board of directors – in part to pre-empt any backlash to its US strategy.