China's Tongwei Group Plans World's Biggest Solar-Cell Factory (5GW of panels per year)

[kristopher]

China's Tongwei Group Plans World's Biggest Solar-Cell Plant
Bloomberg News
November 18, 2015 — 3:37 AM EST
Tongwei Group Co. is planning to build the world’s biggest plant to make solar cells in China’s southwestern province of Sichuan at a possible cost of about $1 billion.

The facility is expected to have capacity of 5 gigawatts of high-efficiency solar cells annually, according to an e-mailed statement. The company held a ceremony on Wednesday to mark the beginning of construction.

The plant in Shuangliu county will triple Tongwei’s total solar-cell capacity, which is estimated to reach 2.4 gigawatts by the end of this year. The plan underscores Chengdu-based Tongwei’s efforts to expand capacity after agreeing to buy a 10 percent stake in Taiwanese solar-cell producer Gintech Energy Corp. in July.

The factory, which could cost about 20 cents a watt, could be part of a medium-term plan, said Wang Xiaoting, a Hong Kong-based analyst from Bloomberg New Energy Finance....

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-18/china-s-tongwei-group-plans-world-s-biggest-solar-cell-plant

[patricia92243]

1. Wish that was us creating jobs and helping the environment :(

[Volaris]

2. It Very Could Be.

A billion dollars a year is PEANUTS for our federal government (just ask the Pentagon).

What is required is merely the WILL to act

[kristopher]

3. A billion $$ builds the factory

The factory has the capacity to produce enough panels to put a basic 3KW system on 1.67 million homes per year.

To put that in perspective, in 2007 (the year China entered the solar panel manufacturing business in a serious way) the entire world's solar panel manufacturing capacity was only about 4GW.

It has been growing by leaps and bounds over the past decade and the prices have correspondingly dropped like a stone.