Chinese Select Solar Wafer Recycler for 500 MW Project

The Chinese government in Jiangsu province has signed a letter of intent with the fast growing solar cell manufacturer ReneSolar to supply the cells for a 500 MW solar project which will be one of the largest of its kind so far in China.

China produces about half of the world solar cell supply, but till now it has exported most of it. While the country uses more solar hot water than any other nation – solar PV installed in the country so far represents a mere 0.01% of the nation’s power generation capacity.

However, the Chinese government has put in place a renewable energy requirement to get 1,800 megawatts from solar by 2020, per their NDRC.

The Chinese solar company ReneSola is a global manufacturer; producing roughly 7 million wafers a month and supplying a number of leading solar manufacturers like BP and SunPower.

ReneSolar has a highly efficient and sustainable business model – – recycling:

It recycles waste wafers from the semi-conductor industry and scrap polysilicon into feedstock to supply the world’s largest solar PV production line.

ReneSolar has been able to steadily increase the amount of useable feedstock from each ton of wafers processed, while also increasing efficiency.

In the process they have been able to reduce wafer thickness by a third, significantly increasing wafer yield. By decreasing their silicon consumption to just 6.3 grams per watt, ReneSola is squeezing more out of less.

As the worlds largest recycler of scrap wafers in solar panels; it is able to supply the product at discount prices – creating higher margins to its customers. For 2009 the company forecast sales of US$700 million dollars.

Image from ReneSolar

Via Solar Daily