French solar PV manufacturing startup CARBON says it plans to start production of 500 MW module capacity in the fall of 2025, one year ahead of the scheduled opening of its ingot to solar module Gigafactory in Fos-sur-Mer at 2026-end.
Calling the pilot project CARBON one, the company says this is an initial industrial step involving the establishment of a PV module production unit in France. It represents about 10% of the future capacity of the original Gigafactory that's planned to have an annual production capacity of 5 GW for solar cells and 3.5 GW for modules.
CARBON one will be an accelerator for the actual CARBON project, the 'biggest' integrated gigafactory in Europe. It will cater to the growing demand for Made in France PV panels and support the integration of CARBON fab into its ecosystem, said the management.
CARBON plans to produce n-type TOPCon and interdigitated back contact (IBC) solar cell modules. According to its initial plans, it will target to expand total capacity to 15 GW from 2030 onward. ISC Konstanz and Becquerel Institute are supporting the endeavor (see 5 GW Solar Module Fab plans For France).
On completion, the entire project worth €1.7 billion will roll out more than 10 million panels/year. CARBON has filed for the construction permit of the fab in Fos-sur-Mer.
In October 2023, CEA-INES and ISC Konstanz lent support to CARBON to explore the production of silicon-perovskite tandem cells (see French Start-Up Investing In 6th Generation Of PV Cells).
France is also nurturing another TOPCon Gigafactory with 5 GW manufacturing capacity in the Grand Est region. It is scheduled to mass-produce panels in 2026. In March 2024, the Grand Est region approved €3 million in state aid (see French Solar Giga Factory Lands €3 Million State Aid).
Planned by HoloSolis, the Grand Est factory has been under construction since May 2023. Recently, the company submitted applications seeking building permit and environmental clearance for the factory.
These should be positive developments for the French solar manufacturing scene that recently saw local manufacturer Systovi shut down its factory citing Chinese module dumping for its sudden drop in orders (see French Solar PV Module Manufacturer Shuts Down Operations).