Solaria inaugurated its new factory and headquarters in Fremont, California on 22 April, where it will have a production capacity of 25 MW per year, compared with 8 MW at its previous premises, accord…
Solaria inaugurated its new factory and headquarters in Fremont, California on 22 April, where it will have a production capacity of 25 MW per year, compared with 8 MW at its previous premises, according to company CEO Dan Shugar. The company also has quasi-contract manufacturing operations in Hyderabad, India, he added. Some of the USD 65 million raised by the company last year funded the new operations. Solaria, one of a number of developers who sought to create alternatives to conventional silicon solar panels, develops solar panels that use lenses to concentrate the sunlight onto silicon solar cells, a process that reduces the need of silicon cells by about 50%. When the solar industry experienced a shortage of silicon around 2005, some companies turned to materials such as copper-indium-gallium-selenide (CIGS), while others began to experiment with materials such as germanium and gallium-arsenide, which are more expensive than silicon but also can obtain far more electricity from sunlight. Solaria continues to use silicon but still adds the concentrating optics to help cut costs. Silicon prices are now less than USD 100 per kilo, dropping to USD 79 per kilo in March this year, making it more difficult for developers of alternative technologies to compete. Solaria can benefit from the lower price of solar cells, which it buys from other suppliers, but still has to compete with conventional silicon solar panel manufacturers worldwide. According to Shugar, Solaria aims to make its panels for at least a third cheaper than conventional silicon panel manufacturers, but it will need to expand its production beyond the current capacity. Solaria manufactures framed and frameless solar panels with 13-14% efficiencies. According to the company, frameless panels, which the company launched in autumn 2010, means up to 50% more panels can be packed into a box for shipment.