Eli Blumenthal

USA TODAY

Shares of solar panel company SunPower dropped over 30% in trading Wednesday as the company announced 1,200 layoffs, struggles with its power plant division and a revised 2016 outlook.

SPRW was down 31.3% around 2:20 p.m. ET.

Citing last year's extension of an investment tax credit as well as the bonus depreciation credit has "reduced the urgency to complete new solar projects by the end of 2016, with many customers adopting a longer-term timeline for project completion," said SunPower president and CEO Tom Werner in a note accompanying the firm's second quarter earnings.

Last December Congress extended a renewable energy tax credit that was due to expire later this year to 2021. The policy provides a 30% tax credit for solar systems on residential and commercial properties according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

Congress expected to approve wide range of tax measures this week

For the second quarter the company posted a loss of $70 million, or 51 cents a share, on $420 million in revenue. According to analysts polled by S&P Global Capital Intelligence, Wall Street was expecting a loss of $73 million, or 48 cents a share. Excluding certain items SunPower reported a 22-cent loss per share, slightly better than Wall Street's estimates of a 24 cents loss per share.

SunPower now expects a net loss of net loss of $125 million to $175 million this year. For 2017 the company expects a net loss of $100 million to $200 million.

As a result of the lowered demands the company announced it would be delaying "certain projects" in its 2016 and 2017 pipeline. SunPower also announced that it would be closing its Philippines assembly plant, transferring the equipment to its new facility in Mexico.

The company will be laying off close to 15% of its workforce, mainly as a result of the Philippine plant closure.

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