Dave Savastano09.09.09
Nanosolar demonstrated the completion of its European panel-assembly factory as part of an inauguration event attended by Germany’s minister of the environment, the governor of the state of Brandenburg, and a host of other leading public officials. Located in Luckenwalde near Berlin, the fully-automated factory processes Nanosolar cells into finished Nanosolar panels using innovative high-throughput manufacturing techniques and tooling developed by Nanosolar and its partners.
The panel factory is automated to sustain a production rate of one panel every ten seconds, or an annual capacity of 640MW when operated 24x7. Nanosolar also announced that serial production in its San Jose, CA, cell production factory commenced earlier this year.
“Getting to the point of serial production with the unusual cost reduction involved in our technology is an accomplishment due to the incredible work and perseverance of our team,” said CEO Martin Roscheisen.
Production is presently set at approximately one MW per month. As Nanosolar’s customers attain project financing from commercial banks for the new panel product, the company will increase its monthly production rate to deliver on its contractual customer commitments totaling $4.1 billion to date.
“With almost all large solar installations credit financed, broad based product bankability is our key next commercial goal,” said Roscheisen. “We have long prepared for this, including through the technology choices we have made, the strong balance sheet we have maintained, the quality of customers we have secured, and the local production we have built.”
In conjunction with the inauguration, Roscheisen also unveiled the technology behind its first product, the Nanosolar Utility Panel, and its unique features and benefits.
The Nanosolar Utility Panel is the industry’s first solar electricity panel specifically designed and developed for utility-scale solar power system deployment.
Through its innovative product design, the panel effectively eliminates the “balance-of-system penalty” that medium-efficient thin panels have conventionally carried relative to higher-efficiency (yet far more expensive) silicon panels.
The IEC-61646 certified Nanosolar Utility Panel is electrically and mechanically optimized for utility-scale solar power systems:
Electrically, it is the industry’s highest-current thin panel, by as much as a factor of six. It is also the industry’s first photovoltaic module certified by TUV for a system voltage of 1500V, or 50% higher than the previously highest certified. Together this enables utility-scale panel array lengths and results in a host of substantial cost savings during the deployment of solar power plants.
Mechanically, the package used for the panel is distinctly stronger than that of conventional thin-film-on-glass modules, achieving almost twice the mounting span and thus substantially lower mounting cost.
The panel factory is automated to sustain a production rate of one panel every ten seconds, or an annual capacity of 640MW when operated 24x7. Nanosolar also announced that serial production in its San Jose, CA, cell production factory commenced earlier this year.
“Getting to the point of serial production with the unusual cost reduction involved in our technology is an accomplishment due to the incredible work and perseverance of our team,” said CEO Martin Roscheisen.
Production is presently set at approximately one MW per month. As Nanosolar’s customers attain project financing from commercial banks for the new panel product, the company will increase its monthly production rate to deliver on its contractual customer commitments totaling $4.1 billion to date.
“With almost all large solar installations credit financed, broad based product bankability is our key next commercial goal,” said Roscheisen. “We have long prepared for this, including through the technology choices we have made, the strong balance sheet we have maintained, the quality of customers we have secured, and the local production we have built.”
In conjunction with the inauguration, Roscheisen also unveiled the technology behind its first product, the Nanosolar Utility Panel, and its unique features and benefits.
The Nanosolar Utility Panel is the industry’s first solar electricity panel specifically designed and developed for utility-scale solar power system deployment.
Through its innovative product design, the panel effectively eliminates the “balance-of-system penalty” that medium-efficient thin panels have conventionally carried relative to higher-efficiency (yet far more expensive) silicon panels.
The IEC-61646 certified Nanosolar Utility Panel is electrically and mechanically optimized for utility-scale solar power systems:
Electrically, it is the industry’s highest-current thin panel, by as much as a factor of six. It is also the industry’s first photovoltaic module certified by TUV for a system voltage of 1500V, or 50% higher than the previously highest certified. Together this enables utility-scale panel array lengths and results in a host of substantial cost savings during the deployment of solar power plants.
Mechanically, the package used for the panel is distinctly stronger than that of conventional thin-film-on-glass modules, achieving almost twice the mounting span and thus substantially lower mounting cost.