Citing expected demand for both its PV modules and c-Si solar cells, Solarfun Power Holdings is expanding capacity based on previously announced supply and downstream utility-scale solar plants, particularly from regions such as China and the U.S. Solarfun said that it would increase its PV module production capacity from 550MW to 700MW by April 2010 and its PV cell production capacity from 360MW to 480MW by July 2010.
Peter Xie, President of Solarfun, commented, “We have an optimistic view on industry demand in 2010 and believe that it is critical to scale up our manufacturing capacity to meet customer demand. We are expecting to see strong demand from areas with increased subsidies to solar projects such as China and the United States. We plan to continue to reduce processing costs through increased production scale and enhanced manufacturing efficiencies.”
In 2009, Solarfun had 12 PV cell production lines in commercial operation. The company had noted in previous SEC filings that future capacity expansion would be funded via convertible notes offering, additional borrowings from third parties and cash from operations.