Emmvee and Fraunhofer ISE partner to establish 1.5GW Indian cell manufacturing plant

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
India’s PV manufacturing base is set to take off next year, with facilities like this one from Adani Solar. Image: Adani Solar.

Indian PV manufacturer Emmvee has partnered with Fraunhofer ISE – a leading solar research centre – to build a 1.5GW solar cell manufacturing facility near Bangalore, southern India.

The two companies have established a memorandum of understanding (MoU) which will see Germany-based Fraunhofer ISE act as solar technology partner to Emmvee during the development of the facility, and will result in an integrated Mono Passivated Emitter and Rear Cell (PERC)/Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact (TOPCon) cell production line.

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

Emmvee did not provide a concrete timeframe for development, construction or operation of the facility, but said that it hopes to have 1.5GW of domestic Indian cell production capacity by 2024.

In 2021 the company unveiled plans to establish a 3GW cell and module manufacturing plant in India.

“Emmvee and Fraunhofer ISE have mutually signed the agreement for the entire project timeline which spans more than 36 months,” said Jochen Rentsch, head of department production technologies – surfaces and interfaces at Fraunhofer ISE.

D V Manjunatha, managing director of Emmvee said: “Partnering with Fraunhofer ISE will help us to improve our skill, quality and efficiency and allow us to produce high quality cells and modules in the industry. This association will help us to enhance our product portfolio to develop and build new cell configurations and module sizes.”

India has been engaged in ramping up its domestic PV manufacturing capacity and reducing its dependence on Chinese imports in recent years. The government introduced protectionist policies like the basic customs duty (BCD), which sticks a 40% import tax on Chinese modules and 25% on cells entering the country, and the approved list of models and manufacturers (ALMM) which limits the companies and technologies that can be produced in India by applying certain criteria.

PV Tech Premium spoke to analyst company Bridge To India last month about the outlook for Indian domestic manufacturing after reports of module shortages saw the country unable to meet its deployment targets.

Whilst the production-linked incentive scheme has been effective in encouraging investment and  development in domestic manufacturing, there has been a lag between imports becoming unviable and domestic capacity coming online. This week, the government announced a two-year relaxation of the ALMM in order to redress the gap between solar supply and demand across India.

Read Next

October 8, 2025
US solar module prices jumped in Q3 2025 as developers scrambled to meet the 2 September 2025 safe harbour deadline for Investment Tax Credit (ITC) qualification, according to supply chain platform Anza.
Premium
October 8, 2025
PV Talk: Smart Energy Council's Nigel Morris reflects on how Australia has become a global testbed for distributed solar and storage innovation.
October 8, 2025
Officials from Norway and Egypt have agreed provisional terms for the financing of the Dandara solar park in Egypt, which is being built and operated by Norwegian IPP Scatec.
October 8, 2025
Saatvik Green Energy has secured new solar PV module orders worth more than INR7 billion (US$84 million), to be delivered in this financial year.
October 8, 2025
Australia's NEM achieved a new minimum operational demand record of 9,666MW, marking a 4% decrease from the previous record.
October 8, 2025
Frontier Energy plans to expand its Waroona Renewable Energy Project into a renewable energy precinct by 2031, targeting up to 1GW solar.

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