‘Solar Module Super League’ (SMSL) member JA Solar has started the volume production ramp at its 10GW Yiwu Information Optoelectronic High-tech Industrial Park manufacturing hub that was officially announced at the start of 2020.
JA Solar said that the Phase I (5GW solar cell, 5GW module assembly) facility had started production, initially using 182mm x 182mm large-area wafers. The Phase I solar cell project had previously been reported to cost US$399 million, while the 10GW assembly plant would cost around US$550 million.
The Phase 1 full ramp is expected to be completed in 2021. Phase II will be completed and start ramping some time in 2023.
The company had approximately 11GW of ingot/wafer, solar cell and module assembly nameplate capacity at the end of 2019 and has plans to reach ingot/wafer capacity of 18GW, as well as 16GW of solar cell capacity, by the end of 2020. JA Solar is targeting 23GW of module assembly capacity by the end of 2020.
All three segments could reach 30GW by the end of 2021, according to the company.
PV Tech recently highlighted that JA Solar’s capacity expansion announcements in the first nine months 2020 could result in 35.8GW of ingot/wafer capacity expansions, topped slightly by advanced solar cell expansion plans of 36.5GW and module assembly expansion plans reaching 32GW by the end of 2023. Capital expenditures could be in the region of US$4.1 billion.