BP will increase the plant capacity from 55 MW that it currently has. The British firm will use state-of-the-art screen printing technology and automated wafer handling, thus being able to handle the very thinnest of wafers available and ensuring the highest possible quality.
The first line of this new plant expected to be fully operational before the summer, with lines two and three starting operation later.
The Tres Cantos site, where the plant is being built, will be remodelled to include a new prototype area, a visitor training center and product testing and development facilities.
“The announcement of the two mega cell plants cements BP Solar’s commitment to maintain a market leadership position in PV” said MrLee Edwards, BP Solar’s CEO. “The new cell technologies we are using, our intellectual property in casting with Mono2 and the contracts we have signed to secure preferential access to metallurgical grade silicon are all important steps towards our goal of offering customers PV-generated electricity on a par with the cost of conventional grid-supplied electricity.”
This plant is expected to fuel the solar PV market in Europe, in which BP has a lot of confidence. “We already have an established manufacturing presence in Madrid, a skilled and talented workforce, and direct access to some of the fastest growing PV markets in the world,” said Mr Bertrand Boulin, BP Solar’s Vice President of Manufacturing and Supply.
