Jan 30 2011
SCHOTT Solar has declared its plans to increase its worldwide photovoltaic module manufacturing capacity to over 800 MW in 2011. As per the plans, the company will invest in its production facilities in Germany to increase the wafer capacity and expand its international module production network through a joint venture with China-based Hareon Solar Technology.
The joint venture will add about 300 MW of SCHOTT Solar module production capacity to SCHOTT Solar’s sites in the Czech Republic and in the US with its existing capacity of 500 MW. Both the companies are holding equal shares in the new joint venture. SCHOTT Solar will hold all vital management roles associated to assuring quality and durability. The company will establish a unique quality assurance center in China to endorse the quality objective.
SCHOTT Solar will increase the wafer production capacity to two fold to 500 MW in 2011at its German plants. For that, the company will increase the enrollment of its wafer unit in Jena in the coming months. The German facilities are currently producing 125 million solar silicon wafers annually, equivalent to four wafers per second.
SCHOTT Solar produces solar cells in the Alzenau location in Germany where its research and development center is also located. In the US, the company is producing solar modules with a total capacity of 90 MW annually in Albuquerque, New Mexico.