Schweizer Electronic has embarked upon the first phase of its attempt to break into the Asian PV market by starting construction of its four new cell and module manufacturing lines in eastern China. Production is scheduled to begin in 2013 and will be supplemented by the formation of an Asian sales network and management team.
All four lines, located in the city of Nantong, will have a capacity of 100MW, and, thanks to the integration of the manufacturing process, efficiency of both cells and modules is likely to range between 19% and 20%. The strategic technology partner for the first of the production line will be Schmid Group, with investment coming to around US$50-60 million.
Schmid already has a strong presence within Asia and the turnkey manufacturing facility expert is providing a team to help with the production line’s construction. “We dispose of comprehensive experience in quickly ramping-up turnkey PV cell and module manufacturing projects, whereof more than 90% of the process technology is being developed and produced within Schmid Group,” Christian Schmid, the Schmid Group’s managing director, said. “The production site will be a milestone for the next generation of cell and module manufacturing. Operating cost will be highly competitive on the global PV market.”
In addition to the production lines and sales network, Schweizer, with the help of Ralos New Energies, plans to establish itself as a system integrator for the consulting, planning, installation and maintenance of downstream solar systems.
“In our strategy we have determined to further explore business areas beyond our successful core business PCB in order to generate significant revenues for Schweizer Group in the coming years,” Schweizer founder Dr. Marc Schweizer said. “By producing high-efficiency modules and in parallel establishing our own sales channels in China, we are convinced to generate further profitable growth for Schweizer Group. We expect an attractive development of the photovoltaic market, independent of a possible reduction of government aids.”
