Hanwha Group, parent company of Hanwha SolarOne, has become the 3rd largest solar cell manufacturer in the world after acquiring German solar company Q-Cells.
Hanwha Chemical, via it subsidiary Hanwha Solar Germany GmbH, has struck a deal with Q-Cells to acquire their German headquarters, solar cell production facilities in Germany and Malaysia, along with sales offices in the USA, Australia and Japan.
The total annual cell production capacity acquired from this EUR 40 million transaction is equivalent to 1GW. Added to Hanwha Solar’s capacity of 1.3GW, the company will have an annual production capacity of 2.3GW.
Hanwha’s goal of becoming the 3rd largest solar cell manufacturer in the world has been achieved well ahead of schedule – originally the company had predicted it would gain this status in 2015.
Q-Cells has a solid reputation with regard to quality, but fell victim to the European sovereign debt crisis and reductions in German government solar subsidies. However, it remained a leading player in the solar industry with revenues of EUR 1.354 billion in 2010 and EUR 1.023 billion in 2011.
Hanwha Group says the acquisition “will add tremendous R&D capabilities to its own solar R&D center in Silicon Valley, Korean and China,” and it continues to have its sights set on become the world’s leader in solar. Given the company’s performance and rapid growth to date, it would seem this lofty ambition is one that could be realised.
In 2010, Hanwha purchased a large stake in Solarfun Power Holdings Co., Ltd. and since then SolarFun panels were re-branded to SolarOne. The company has continued to invest substantially in innovation and recently announced it would combine its solar panel products with energy storage systems for residential applications; with the first of these systems expected to be rolled out in the USA later this year.
