Suniva has agreed to provide domestically manufactured photo voltaic cells to Heliene below a three-year sourcing contract, for integration into its photo voltaic modules.
From pv journal USA
Underneath the phrases of a three-year sourcing contract, Heliene will produce absolutely US-made photo voltaic modules that incorporate Suniva’s domestically made photo voltaic cells.
Heliene has manufactured photo voltaic modules in Ontario, Canada, since 2010 and in Mountain Iron, Minnesota, since 2018. In December 2023, the corporate introduced an an funding of an extra $10 million to increase its manufacturing and meeting line at its Minnesota facility.
Minnesota Line One was first put in in 2018 at 150 MW and has now doubled in capability to 300 MW with the latest funding. Line One is located contiguously to a second, 500 MW line put in in 2022. The corporate mentioned that the upgrades will enhance the effectivity of the road.
Suniva mentioned in October 2023 that it will restart its idled manufacturing facility in Norcross, Georgia, which operated at round 450 MW of manufacturing capability on the time of its closure in 2017, when the corporate filed for chapter, claiming it couldn’t compete with low cost photo voltaic imports.
In response to a Part 201 commerce petition filed by Suniva and SolarWorld, the Trump administration imposed duties in 2018 on imported photo voltaic cells and panels for a interval of 4 years. The tariffs had been prolonged, however in June 2022, President Joe Biden issued a moratorium on photo voltaic tariffs, pausing any assortment of charges for 2 years.
Based on Matt Card, the president and COO of Suniva, the tariffs have helped US panel manufacturing, however he credited subsidies contained within the US Inflation Discount Act for lastly enabling Suniva to provide photo voltaic cells once more.
Suniva mentioned in October 2023 that its objective was to kick off manufacturing this spring with a capability of 1 GW and finally scale as much as 2.5 GW per yr.
The businesses count on the sourcing contract to end in photo voltaic modules that qualify for the the ten% Home Content material Bonus Funding Tax Credit score, which may be obtained solely by utilizing US-made cells, in keeping with steerage from the US Division of Treasury, printed in Might 2023.
To qualify for the bonus, builders should buy modules with US-made photo voltaic cells, which continues to be a problem because of the dearth of home cell producers. That’s slowly altering, nevertheless, as extra cell producers arrange store in america, together with Meyer Burger, which introduced a 2 GW photo voltaic cell manufacturing facility in Colorado complementing its Arizona-based 2 GW photo voltaic module manufacturing facility.
Heliene expects its US crystalline silicon photo voltaic modules with Suniva cells to develop into out there in mid-2024.
“Heliene is proud to embark on this historic partnership with Suniva at a time when the US is poised to seize a larger share of the worldwide photo voltaic market by bolstering home manufacturing and onshoring of provide,” mentioned Martin Pochtaruk, the CEO of Heliene. “Introducing Suniva’s US-made cells into our manufacturing course of will allow Heliene to increase its dedication to providing best-in-class modules that allow our prospects to qualify for profitable tax credit and incentives.”
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