Chinese solar PV inverter manufacturer Growatt has announced the commissioning of its 1st overseas manufacturing facility, picking Haiphong in Vietnam to set up its global production base for solar inverters, storage inverters and battery storage products.
Management has not revealed the annual production capacity of the new fab, but said it has an expansion plan to achieve an annual production capacity of 500,000 inverter units and 100,000 battery units.
The Vietnamese fab is automated enough to ensure entire production process is efficient and productive, the company stated.
"We've been investing heavily in globalizing our distribution and service networks over the years, and now we move to open this factory in Vietnam to boost our production capacity and strengthen our capability to deliver reliable and quality products to customers," said Growatt Chairman and CEO David Ding.
The Chinese manufacturer currently has an annual production capacity of 3 million sets of inverters and 600,000 sets of battery packs, according to the company's website.
Growatt's expansion into the Southeast Asian nation follows its compatriot Trina Solar announcing 6.5 GW solar wafer fab to exclusively serve the US market and receive exemption from the country's circumvention tariffs (see Trina Solar Getting Vietnam Wafer Fab Ready For US).
Interestingly, Vietnam is one of the 4 Southeast Asian nations from where the US says some Chinese manufacturers ship their products to the US in order to avoid paying the trade duties on Chinese solar products. The US Department of Commerce (DOC) is awaiting President Joe Biden's 2-year tariff waiver period to get over before it can take any action (see US Finds Chinese Companies Dodging Circumvention Tariffs).