Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi has officially inaugurated the country's largest solar panel production facility in Khomein city with annual capacity of 500 MW. In a 2nd phase, the manufacturer Mana Energy Pak Private Limited (MEP Cell) can expand the total to 1.5 GW.
The Mana Energy Pak complex is located in Iran's Central Markazi Province. By 2025, MEP Cell aims to become 'fully integrated' and manufacture all necessary equipment and parts needed for the production of solar panels, locally. Currently, it is importing some components for solar panel production.
MEP Cell is also building a 100 MW solar power plant in Mahalat city of Central Province which the government says is also the largest solar farm in the country currently.
In March 2022, Tehran Times reported that Germany's Dr. Hegenbart Unternehmensberatung GMBH & Co signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Micro Electronics Research Center of Iran (MERDCI) for the installation of a fully automatic solar panel production line in Central Fars Province.
Interest in solar energy in Iran is growing with government focusing on competitive tenders to encourage its adoption. The Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Organization (SATBA) of Iran recently qualified 85 companies for a 4 GW solar PV tender it launched in April 2022, which is part of the country's plans to develop 10 GW renewable energy capacity by 2025 (see 85 Pre-Qualified For 4 GW Iran PV Tender).
As of the end of June 2022, Iran's total operational renewable energy capacity was 956.20 MW, as per SATBA, out of which solar's share was the largest at 502.1 MW.