One of the world’s largest solar panel producers, JA Solar Holdings Co Ltd, has reportedly invested RM300 million (~ AUD 96.7 million) to establish its first manufacturing plant in Malaysia.
The Penang facility will also be the company’s first outside of China.
Bernama reports production of solar panels will commence in a few weeks and the first export shipment should occur by the end of this year. Most of the exports will be to China, followed by North America, Japan, Europe and other markets.
JA Solar Malaysia Deputy General Manager Ong Ken Yong said the factory’s output would represent around ten per cent of the company’s total production capacity.
In the second quarter of this year, total global shipments of JA Solar panels reached 790.8 megawatts, an increase of 16.0% year-over-year.
At that point in time, Mr. Baofang Jin, chairman and CEO, said the company was focused on capturing greater market share in emerging markets, such as India and the Americas. For the third quarter, JA Solar expected to have shipped 900 MW to 950 MW of solar cells and modules. Last year, the company shipped 3.1 GW.
JA Solar panels have gained a foothold in Australia through numerous home solar installs; but the highest profile project here is the Moree Solar Farm in New South Wales, which will use 222,880 of the company’s modules.
The company was founded in May 2005 and publicly listed on the NASDAQ in February 2007. JA Solar is headquartered in Shanghai, China, and has manufacturing facilities in Shanghai, Hebei, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces.
A “Tier 1”, fully integrated manufacturer, JA Solar has shipped more than 11 gigawatts of cells and modules to date. The company was the second biggest Chinese module supplier in Japan in 2012 and 2013, then taking the number one spot last year.
In other JA Solar news, earlier this month the company announced the appointment of Robert Petrina as JA Solar’s Managing Director & President, North America. Mr Petrina previously served as Managing Director of Yingli Green Energy Americas.
