SunPower has announced a 3GW of PV deployment in Sichuan province of China, under joint venture.
SunPower will invest up to $20m for a 4.6 percent share in the venture with partners Tianjin Zhonghuan Semiconductor, Sichuan Development, Leshan Electric Power and Tianjin Tsinlien Investment.
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The joint venture is for high-efficiency, low-concentration PV (LCPV) systems placement, based on SunPower’s C7 tracker technology.
The project is expected to start operations by next year.
In 2012, SunPower has set up its first Chinese JV and another C7 manufacturing facility has been already completed in Inner Mongolia.
The C7 technology has the ability to concentrate the sun’s energy sevenfold and combines horizontal single-axis trackers with rows of parabolic mirrors, which reflect sunlight onto SunPower’s high-efficiency cells.
In another initiative, SunPower has plans to open a new solar panel manufacturing facility in Cape Town, South Africa.
In this facility SunPower will focus on manufacturing its high efficiency SunPower E20/440 Solar Panels and expects to produce up to 160-megawatts (MW) annually.
The development is part of SunPower’s continued focus in the region. South Africa has been one of the fastest growing solar markets in the world thanks to the geographical conditions and worsening energy conditions in the region.
Sabeena Wahid
[email protected]