US solar module manufacturer SEG Solar has launched commercial operations at its PV manufacturing facility in Houston, Texas, which boasts an annual production capacity of 2GW.
With the addition of the new facility, SEG Solar now aims to expand its global annual manufacturing capacity to 5.5GW by the end of this year, with other module production bases already in operation in China, Indonesia and Thailand.
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The first module to be produced by the new facility was a 585W module belonging to the company’s Yukon N series, an n-type module with a power conversion efficiency as high as 22.9%. The facility’s production lines can produce 182mm and 210mm n-type cells, part of a wider trend towards the production of larger solar products, which was highlighted earlier this year at the World Future Energy Summit and Exhibition (WFES) in Abu Dhabi.
SEG Solar also noted that the facility will make use of “automated intelligent manufacturing systems” and “advanced” enterprise resource planning (ERP) and manufacturing execution systems (MES) to trace the source of materials and components used in the construction of modules.
While the commissioning of the facility is an encouraging development for the US solar industry, the manufacturing sector remains heavily reliant on Chinese companies. Figures from think tank Ember Climate suggest that the world’s solar manufacturing capacity will reach 1,100GW by the end of this year, with as much of 85% of this capacity based in China.
Driving innovation
“As a leading US solar company, SEG is proud to be among the first to respond to the call for domestic manufacturing by constructing a solar module factory in the US,” said SEG Solar CEO Jim Wood, referring to the push made in the last few years to locate more solar manufacturing capacity in the US, under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
Earlier this year, Michael Parr of the Ultra Low Carbon Solar Alliance wrote for PV Tech that the IRA had encouraged the production of ‘supporting artists’ in the US solar sector, such as glass and steel, and the commissioning of a new module facility on US soil takes this a step further.
“The completion of the Houston plant marks a significant milestone for SEG and a major advancement in US module manufacturing technology,” added Wood. “Looking ahead, SEG will continue to deepen its investments in wafers, cells, and modules, closely tracking market trends to meet our customers’ needs.”
The company plans to commission a global research and development (R&D) centre at the Houston facility by the end of the year, which will provide testing services, such as light-induced degradation (LID) tests. Such testing has seen increased attention in recent years, with a team of researchers from a number of US research institutions—including the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the University of California San Diego—developing a perovskite module that can resist LID and maintain its power conversion efficiency of 16%.
On 21 August, PV Tech’s publisher Solar Media will host a webinar on US module manufacturing, which will include a tour of the new SEG Solar facility, led by CEO Jim Wood.
