VietNamNet Bridge - First Solar has returned and other investors are coming to Vietnam with large-scale production plans in anticipation of domestic demand and export opportunities for solar panels thanks to preferential tariffs.

A First Solar workshop in Dong Nam IZ in Cu Chi district in HCMC is busy again after six years of being idle. Dong Nam IZ’s developer and HEPZA have confirmed that First Solar has re-started its project on manufacturing solar panels, with investment capital of $1.2 billion and designed capacity of 250 MW per annum.

According to HEPZA, the representative of First Solar said the demand for solar panels worldwide has increased again. The products of the factory in Cu Chi district are to be exported and once it runs at full capacity, export value may reach $2 billion a year.

First Solar is the largest solar cell manufacturing company in the US. It is the world’s leader in making thin film solar cells, which currently accounts for about six percent of the global market. This is considered a major ‘weapon’ for First Solar to compete with Chinese rivals, which rely on old technology of polycrystalline silicon.

The investors from China and Taiwan are the biggest investors in Vietnam in this field. Unlike First Solar, which chose to set up its factory in HCMC, Chinese and Taiwanese investors set up factories in the north.

The investors from China and Taiwan are the biggest investors in Vietnam in this field. Unlike First Solar, which chose to set up its factory in HCMC, Chinese and Taiwanese investors set up factories in the north.

JA Solar Group, for example, is developing a project on making solar cells in Quang Chau IZ in Bac Giang province with investment capital of $1 billion. The majority of the products to be churned out by the factory will be exported to the US. 

Also, in Bac Giang province, the solar panel factory of Trina Solar Vietnam Science & Technology, belonging to Chinese Trinasolar was set up in Van Trung IZ. This is the biggest solar panel factory in Vietnam with investment capital of $100 million and designed capacity of 1GW a year.

Vina Solar recently signed a contract with Chinese GCL-SI and Trina Solar to develop solar panel manufacturing projects in Vietnam. GCL-SI said it would invest $32 million in the joint venture. 

According to Chung-Han Wu, R&D director of BOVIET of Chinese Boway Group, seven Chinese and two Taiwanese solar panel manufacturers have factories in Bac Giang province.

A chain of manufacturing and assembling solar cells with eight licensed projects is taking shape in Bac Giang, making it the province with the largest solar panel manufacturing production scale, 5,200 MW per annum.

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