3SUN seeking €14.1 million funding for heterojunction solar cell tool purchases

July 3, 2017
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Enel Green Power had previously announced that the 3SUN production switch to HJ cell/module production would cost around €80 million and R&D facility, dubbed Innovation Lab would require an investment of around €20 million. Image: Sharp

Enel Green Power’s a-Si thin-film module manufacturing subsidiary, 3SUN is hoping to obtain a €14.1 million grant from Italy’s national agency for attracting investment and enterprise development, Invitalia to support the purchase of heterojunction (HJ) solar cell tools to switch production to the higher efficiency silicon technology.

Enel Green Power said that 3SUN had also hosted the launch meeting of AMPERE (Automated Photovoltaic cell and Module industrial Production), which is funded by the Horizon 2020 European research and innovation programme (LCE-09-2016-2017), aimed at increasing EU’s European PV industries competitiveness.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

The AMPERE meeting was said to include major European research centres and commercial companies and is coordinated by 3SUN. Funding for the AMPERE consortium was said to amounts to €14 million, which includes €8.3 million for 3SUN and €0.5 million for Enel Green Power. 

The AMPERE funding is primarily being used for the purchase and installation of the automated HJ manufacturing equipment at the 3SUN facility in Catania, Sicily.

The potential €14.1 million grant from Invitalia was said to have already been appropriated by the Ministry for Economic Development and the Region of Sicily.

Enel Green Power had previously announced that the 3SUN production switch to HJ cell/module production would cost around €80 million and R&D facility, dubbed Innovation Lab would require an investment of around €20 million.

Enel Green Power reiterated that it expected production of HJ modules would start production in the first half of 2018, before ramping up production to a nameplate capacity of 240MW in 2019.

3SUN had originally been a JV between Enel and Sharp before the Japanese firm exited the a-Si thin film market. 

Another former a-Si producer, Russia-based Hevel Group, a joint venture between Renova Group and Rusnano has also recently migrated its a-Si production to HJ technology and said production had started successfully, providing a nameplate capacity of 160MW.

Meyer Burger had previously landed a US$22.5 million order from Hevel to convert to HJ and bifacial cell production and ‘SmartWire’ module assembly.

Singulus Technologies also supplied its SILEX II system, used for wet-chemical processing of heterojunction (HJ) solar cells to Hevel.

Read Next

October 16, 2025
US utility-scale solar additions grew by 56% in 2024, reaching 30GW from 2023’s 19GW and representing over 54% of all new electricity generation capacity added in the country last year.
October 15, 2025
Independent power producer (IPP) Geronimo has begun construction on it’s150MW solar project in Illinois and commissioned the 125MW PV project in Michigan.
October 15, 2025
Indian module manufacturer Saatvik Green Energy, through its subsidiary Saatvik Solar Industries, has secured solar PV module orders worth INR6.89 billion (US$78 million).
Premium
October 14, 2025
OCI Holdings’ decision this week to buy a Vietnamese solar wafer facility to supply the US solar cell manufacturing industry makes clear the biggest vulnerability facing the sector today.
October 13, 2025
Korean chemical production firm OCI Holdings has acquired a 65% stake in a Vietnamese solar wafer production plant, intending to export solar wafers to the US.
October 13, 2025
US solar manufacturer T1 Energy has acquired a minority stake in fellow US-based solar cell producer Talon PV.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
October 21, 2025
New York, USA
Solar Media Events
November 25, 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Solar Media Events
December 2, 2025
Málaga, Spain
Solar Media Events
February 3, 2026
London, UK