FREMONT, California - California solar company Solyndra Inc said on Friday that it started construction on its second solar panel manufacturing plant, putting into action the first loan guarantee awarded under a long-delayed U.S. program for advanced clean energy.

The Fremont, California-based plant is near the company's current manufacturing facility and, once finished, will produce 500 megawatts of panels per year. Solyndra makes cylindrical solar panels designed to be mounted on flat commercial roofs.

To build the project, Solyndra is using public and private financing. Earlier this year, Solyndra received a loan guarantee, worth $535 million, from the U.S. Department of Energy. The loan guarantee was the first of its kind under the program created in 2005.

Solyndra is also using $198 million from an equity financing round led by Argonaut Private Equity. Goldman, Sachs & Co acted as financial adviser to Solyndra on the federal loan guarantee.

Solyndra expects construction to create more than 3,000 jobs and operations to put more than 1,000 people to work.

(Reporting by Poornima Gupta, with additional reporting by Laura Isensee in Los Angeles; editing by Peter Henderson and Gerald E. McCormick)

California Solar