The two companies launched production on July 27 with an investment of CNY 222 million ($32.9 million), according to an online statement. GCL-SI has supplied production and testing equipment for the PV cell production lines.
In a separate announcement this week, GCL-SI revealed that it has agreed to supply 60 MW of PV modules to Germany’s IBC Solar, as part of a new strategic partnership. The Chinese manufacturer will produce the polycrystalline PV modules in Vietnam for installation in the European market. GCL-SI plans to complete its first shipments to IBC Solar in September.
GCL-SI did not reveal the precise location of its new production facilities in Vietnam. However, according to a plan the Chinese supplier announced in January, it has installed new lines at existing Vina Solar plants throughout the country. The Vietnamese solar OEM — which was established in early 2014 — currently owns at least one factory in Bac Giang province and claims annual PV module output of 3.4 GW, in addition to solar cell output of 1 GW per year.
GCL-SI — which is a part of the Golden Concord group of companies, along with GCL-Poly, the world’s largest polysilicon and wafer producer — believes that its new manufacturing operations in Vietnam will help it secure orders in the U.S. and Europe. It plans to continue to expand throughout the world, in line with the Chinese government’s Belt and Road economic development strategy.
The company said it has been working for years to improve the efficiency of its polysilicon PERC cells. By the start of this year, it had achieved an average efficiency of 20.3% with its Black Silicon PERC cells. It aims to reach 20.5% by the end of this year, in line with the Chinese government’s revised Top Runner standards.
Shenzhen-listed GCL-SI is the latest in a number of Chinese PV suppliers that have launched production in Southeast Asia in recent months, as part of efforts to dodge duties and tariffs in the U.S. and European markets. Last November, for example, JA Solar started building a $1 billion PV cell plant in Vietnam’s Bac Giang province.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.