Business

Perovskite Solar Cell Fab In China With 10 GW Capacity?

Anu Bhambhani
  • Wonder Solar has announced plans to develop 10 GW of annual perovskite solar cell production capacity
  • It aims to start with 200 MW line of printable perovskite cells on trial basis first, following which it will be scaled up to 10 GW
  • The fab will be located in Gedian Development Zone in Ezhou city of Hubei province

Known and envied in the global solar market for its PV production lines with massive economies of scale, meaning double digit GW levels, China is full of companies that grab attention for their frequent announcement of more such GW level fabs for solar silicon wafers, cells and modules, as well as production equipment.

Now, Chinese manufacturers are eying what's being touted as the next big thing in the world of solar PV, perovskite. A company called Hubei Wonder Solar LLC—a spin out from Huazhong University of Science and Technology—has reportedly signed up to develop a manufacturing base for perovskite solar cells in China's Hubei province, with an incredibly large 10 GW annual capacity.

Referring to local Chinese media reports, Taiwan based market research firm EnergyTrend said Wonder Solar plans to set up its 10 GW perovskite solar cell fab in Gedian Development Zone in the city of Ezhou. The production capacity will be set up in 2 phases, starting with a trial production of 200 MW line of printable perovskite cells. Once the trial production is successful, the fab will be scaled up to 10 GW.

According to the report, once the 10 GW capacity is up and running it is expected to generate RMB 10 billion annually with more than 500 employees working on site.

On its website, Wonder Solar said it has an exclusive access to the fundamental intellectual patent (IP) from the Huazhong University for key technologies of printable mesoscopic perovskite solar cells, prepared by coating 3 layers of mesoporous films on a single conductive substrate layer-by-layer.

According to EnergyTrend, the company has built the world's 'largest' perovskite solar module with an area size of 3,600 sq. cm. along with the world's '1st' 10 kW level demonstration project for perovskite PV technology, and that its ongoing in-house research work is leading to Hubei manufacturing plans to materialize.

In March 2021, GCL Optoelectronics raised over RMB 100 million to build a 100 MW mass production line for perovskite solar cell modules (see GCL To Build 100 MW Perovskite Solar Module Fab).