Carbon, a French PV module manufacturer, says its new €1.7 billion production facility will initially produce TOPCon products.
French solar panel manufacturer Carbon has announced that it plans to start pilot production in autumn 2025 at its vertically integrated TOPCon and IBC solar module factory in Fos-sur-Mer, in the southern French department of Bouches-du- Rhone.
The factory will operate a 500 MW pilot production line for TOPCon panels. The company said it will initially produce the modules using cells sourced from Europe or outside Europe.
“The selection of our suppliers will be completed during 2025 and will allow us to sell TOPCon Premium modules that meet the requirements set by the French Ministry of Economy,” says Etienne Roche, responsible for strategy , communications, public relations and public affairs at Carbon, told pv magazine France. “These requirements classify photovoltaic modules from A to E based on the number of production phases carried out in Europe.”
The pilot unit will also be designed to build the plant’s entire ecosystem, including establishing long-term partnerships with raw material and equipment suppliers, as well as R&D institutes.
Roche said the factory will cover an area of approximately 5,000 m2 in Fos-sur-Mer, in the southern French department of Bouches-du-Rhône. The intention is to have an annual production capacity for blocks and cells of 5 GW and a module capacity of 3.5 GW.
The planned total investment should amount to approximately €1.7 billion. About 50% of the project will be financed with debt, about 25% with national and European grants, and finally the rest with equity.
“The currently very low prices are not sustainable in the long term, neither for European players nor even for Chinese Tier 1 players,” Roche said, noting that Carbon’s new factory should be able to deliver relatively low prices for its products.
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