Trina Solar is building a new 15GW advanced module assembly plant to support its large-area PV module production ambitions.
The assembly hub is being developed via an investment cooperation agreement with the Changzhou National High-tech Industrial Development Zone Management Committee and will support the manufacture of its new Vertex series of high-power modules.
The 'Solar Module Super League' member recently highlighted that its new ‘Vertex’ series module manufacturing capacity ramp would start in the fourth quarter of 2020 with a planned nameplate capacity of 10GW, before ramping to 21GW in 2021 and topping 31GW in 2022. This is to provide PV modules with 500Wp power, leading to modules exceeding 600Wp.
Trina Solar expects the 15GW module assembly project to cost in the region of RMB3 billion (US$439 million) with assembly equipment costing around RMB1.5 billion (US$219 million).
The project is expected to be in several phases with construction phases and production ramps starting in 2020 through 2023.
Currently, four SMSL members (JinkoSolar, JA Solar, Trina Solar and LONGi) have made numerous capacity expansion announcements that target nameplate module assembly capacity to reach and exceed 30GW over the following 12 months. JinkoSolar expects to reach 30GW of module assembly capacity by the end of 2020.
