NorSun Bags Multi-Year US-Made Silicon Wafers Contract With Heliene

NorSun, the European solar wafer manufacturer from Norway, has landed another big contract for its upcoming US factory, this time with North American solar module producer Heliene. The multi-year contract will kick into force in 2026.  

This is the company’s 2nd big contract for its US-made silicon wafer supply contract as it announced the 1st one with Silfab Solar in September 2023. NorSun plans to start commercial operations of its planned 5 GW silicon wafer factory in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 2026 (see It Is Tulsa Time For NorSun’s Maiden US Wafer Factory).  

Heliene will source an undefined volume of NorSun wafers for its cell factory to be built in Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul in Minnesota metro area. For this manufacturer, the NorSun contract will expand the use of domestic content in its modules. In July 2024, Heliene announced a 1 GW US solar cell factory in collaboration with India’s Premier Energies (see Heliene & Premier Energies Collaborate For US Solar Cell Factory).  

“Partnering with NorSun and incorporating wafers produced at their new Tulsa facility into our modules will enable us to greatly expand the impact of a friend-shored supply chain,” said Heliene CEO, Martin Pochtaruk.  

NorSun believes this contract with Heliene will help develop the critical solar PV value chain in the US and reduce foreign dependencies in this market. Over its lifetime, this contract will significantly reduce the carbon footprint when compared to the alternative Asian supply.  

“NorSun and Heliene are both dedicated to developing low carbon, domestically produced solutions based on sustainable value chains free of forced labor. In the months leading up to final decisions at the end of 2024 it is now important that further policy measures are taken to regulate the US market to make sure the IRA program can take full effect,” added NorSun CEO Erik Løkke-Øwre. 

Meanwhile, NorSun’s Årdal factory back home in Norway was closed temporarily in September 2023 for which the company cited lack of demand due to high Chinese inventory in the European markets. The focus for it right now is the US factory.   

NorSun's Regional Director of America Todd Templeton, and Heliene CTO Nadeem Haque will speak at the 1-day Solar Made in USA Conference at RE+ at Anaheim, California, US on September 9, 2024. Organized by TaiyangNews along with EUPD Research and RE+, it will discuss competitive solar PV manufacturing along the PV value chain in the US market. Registrations to the event can be done here.