Meyer Burger has secured an order for passivated emitter rear cell (PERC) technology equivalent to 2.5GW of annual capacity.
The customer behind the CHF38 million (US$40.8 million) deal has not been revealed but the Swiss company did say it was an existing Asian client.
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Meyer Burger claimed the order was the result of a test production phase conducted with the customer with its MAiA 2.1 system. The toll maker will also provide, training, onsite support and spare parts for the lines “at the customer’s internationally located manufacturing locations”.
Delivery and commissioning of the project will start in the third quarter of 2015 and into early 2016. According to Meyer Burger, the customer is looking to expand its cell production volume to support its increased delivery of solar modules. This would point towards a Chinese integrated manufacturer rather a Taiwanese cell producer.
Yingli has a cell manufacturing capacity of 3.2GW. Trina Solar intends to boost its cell production from 3.1GW at the end of 2014 to 4.1GW by the end of 2015 and reported results from early volume production earlier this year. JA Solar expects to boost its cell capacity from 2.8GW in 2014 to 3.9GW in 2015. JinkoSolar had 2GW of cell capacity at the end of 2014 and has also announced results from early tests with PERC modules. ReneSola raised concerns in its annual report that it had insufficient cell production.
According to data from EnergyTrend, the largest Taiwanese cell producer in 2014 was NSP with around 2.2GW. The combined Motech/Topcell entity is expected to produce around 3GW this year.