JA Solar plans 20 new solar cell production lines in 2008

JA Solar has raised its annual solar cell production guidance figures for 2008. Previously, the company has said that it expected to ramp to 425MW by the end of the year; however, it is now guiding 500MW capacity due to an acceleration in number of production lines planned for the year. Total production output is expected to reach 340MW for 2008, the company said.

JA Solar was able to ramp production lines from 75MW in 2006 to 175MW in 2007, and expects to add 20 new production lines to an existing plant and ramp a new plant nearing completion.

"In 2008 we plan to build on JA Solar's strong brand and technology platform through increased sales and marketing efforts, greater investment in R&D, and continued expansion of our production capacity,” said Samuel Yang, JA Solar's Chief Executive Officer. “We have already broken ground for ten new cell lines in Hebei, and plan to break ground for another ten cell lines at a new facility in Yangzhou during the second half of 2008. On the technology front, we plan to open a research laboratory in Silicon Valley, California. We believe the true driving force for broader application of solar technology and the achievement of grid parity is low cost. By 2010, JA Solar strives to be a cost leader in the industry and establish the industry cost benchmark through technical innovation and operational efficiency. We have enormous confidence that our production scale and execution capability would position JA Solar to achieve aggressive cost reductions as we address a rapidly evolving market."

Capital spending for 2008 is expected to be $132.5 million and $5 million spent on R&D.