PVTIME – On the evening of February 11, Tongwei Solar announced its four-year plan from 2020 to 2023 to increase high-purity polycrystalline silicon as well as solar cell production capacity. According to the plan, Tongwei will invest up to 2.87 billion USD to establish a manufacturing hub with an annual production capability of 30GW in Jintang County of Chengdu, China.
Presently,Tongwei has a high-purity polycrystalline silicon production capability of 80,000 tons and high-efficiency solar cell production capability of 20GW. The plan points out, monocrystalline silicon production accounts for 85% of Tongwei’s production capacity, and N-type materials will be introduced in a timely manner according to market demand.
Tongwei’s plan in the interim is to maintain the monocrystalline silicon production proportion of 85%, with 40-80% of which able to be used for n-type applications, and to produce electronic grade silicon. Production costs are to be controlled between 30,000 to 40,000 yuan/ton while cash costs are controlled at 20,000-30,000 yuan/ton.
Tongwei expressed that the company possesses leading research and development capabilities and has accumulated various production technologies in the area of solar cell production. It not only has cost to performance advantages in the production of P-type PERC cells but also has its sights set on new technologies such as Perc+, Topcon, and HJT, with a pilot HJT production line having already reached 400MW in 2019.
Tongwei said that the current non-silicon cost of PERC products is just below 0.0258 USD / W, and the non-silicon cost of new technology products continues to decline as well.
In addition, the plan emphasizes that the above technological and cost targets are expected to be achieved with Tongwei’s current technology accumulation and production control capabilities without the further optimization of product quality and production costs brought about by technological advances of the industry.
The new plan will be compatible with 210mm, 166mm, 163mm, 158mm, and 156mm solar cell specifications.
