Australia grants Sunman up to AUD 171 million for lightweight solar module manufacturing
The new fab will produce modules with Sunman’s proprietary eArc technology, as well as glass modules
It will also host an innovation hub and create over 300 jobs; modules will also be exported
Solar pioneer and University of New South Wales (UNSW) alumnus Dr. Zhengrong Shi’s Sunman Group has secured Australian government funding to establish a 500 MW solar PV manufacturing facility, to be the largest module factory, in Australia. Modules produced will be used for domestic as well as export markets.
Sunman has secured up to AUD 171 million (AUD 151 million from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and AUD 20 million from the NSW government) in conditional funding under the AUD 1 billion Solar Sunshot program for its lightweight module factory.
To come up in NSW’s Hunter Valley, the fab will produce a range of solar PV modules using Sunman’s proprietary enhanced Architecture Ready Composite (eArc) modules. These replace traditional glass with durable polymers, which makes modules up to 70% lighter, the company claims.
At the fab, Sunman also plans to produce glass modules and develop a solar innovation hub to support the commercialization of new solar technologies. Additionally, Shi’s group aims to operate the factory as a solar manufacturing foundry to be able to provide production capacity to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
“I am proud to establish the Hunter Valley Solar Foundry and bring commercial-scale renewable manufacturing to Australia. Once established, the Hunter Valley Solar Foundry will be the largest manufacturer of solar photovoltaic modules in Australia, and the only one in NSW, delivering world-leading products to residential, commercial and utility customers around the country,” said Shi, who is also known as the Sun King for his role in advancing solar PV technology.
A former PhD student of Professor Martin Green, Shi also established Suntech, which grew to be one of the largest solar PV manufacturing companies in the world.
This factory is estimated to create around 200 construction jobs and more than 100 positions once fully ramped up.
Sunman currently operates a 1 GW building-integrated PV (BIPV) production facility in China. In the US, Shi founded Bila Solar, which is building a 1 GW solar module fab in Indianapolis (see Singapore Company Announces US PV Manufacturing).
Earlier, in August 2025, ARENA approved AUD 34.5 million in funding for Tindo Solar, currently the sole solar module manufacturer in Australia, to expand its capacity to 180 MW, and conduct a feasibility study for the planned Gigafactory (see Australia Injects AUD 45.5 Million Into Solar Manufacturing Expansion).
ARENA CEO Darren Miller said that the Sunman project advances solar manufacturing within Australia, which will reduce the country’s reliance on imports and strengthen its supply chain resilience.