To be built for over an estimated €800 million ($868 million), the 5 GW solar cell and module manufacturing factory of HoloSolis in France's Grand Est region has secured €3 million ($3.26 million) in regional funding from Grand Est region.
Planned to be located in Hambach's Europole 2 area, the factory has been under construction since May 2023. The management targets to start work on site in Q2/2025 with first modules to be rolled out in 2026.
Once fully ramped up, it will have the capacity to produce more than 550 million TOPCon solar cells and 10 million panels for sale in France and other European nations.
The President of the Grand Est Region Franck Leroy said, "With HoloSolis, the Grand Est Region will become a reference territory in the production of photovoltaic panels in Europe. It is a source of pride and a major step in the reindustrialization of our territories with the creation of 1,700 jobs!"
The site will also host a research and development center, in partnership with European institutes as it aims to venture into silicon and perovskite tandem in the future.
HoloSolis counts EIT InnoEnergy, IDEC Group and TSE as its shareholders, along with the organic PV producer ARMOR Group that came on board in November 2023 (see Boost For French Solar Cell & Module Manufacturing Plans).
Recently, the European Commission gave the green signal for the €2.9 billion French Tax Credit Scheme to support local production of strategic net-zero equipment, including solar panels (see EU Nod For French Solar Panel Manufacturing Plans).