Trina Solar USAthe domestic arm of the global PV module manufacturer, is ramping up production in the United States. In this episode of Solar Spotlight, Adam Macaluso, national accounts manager for the U.S. transmitter business at Trina Solar, shares an update on Trina’s U.S. manufacturing footprint, as well as the company’s near-future plans.
Below is a written portion of this podcast, but be sure to listen to the full episode on your preferred podcast service.
SPW: What’s new at Trina Solar US?
Adam Macaluso, National Accounts Manager for Trina Solar US
Adam Macaluso: We’ve been in business for 27 years and I believe are the oldest and largest manufacturer out there. Last year, when we added it all up, we came up with module shipments of 205 GW shipped around the world for various industries. We’ve been in the US since about 2009 and we have over 100 employees today when we started with probably about ten, and we’ve just grown and accomplished so much. We have all these fantastic new team members. Things have been going really well for us lately – lots of new growth, lots of new friendly faces here in the States.
In concrete terms, the largest thing we have is our new factory. It’s in Wilmer, Texas. It is a 5 GW facility that will produce our new 210mm n-type TOPCon modules, which will simultaneously process our utility modules, our commercial modules and our residential modules. It is approximately 1.35 million feet2 – huge facility, the size of 24 football fields – and which will supply all our modules to the US market from next year and, when operating at full capacity, should create around 1,500 direct full-time jobs.
What’s in Trina Solar’s plan for next year and beyond?
What we’re looking at is the n-type TOPCon module – our new bread and butter moving forward. The short version is that it’s full wattage in the same footprint as what people are used to. It will be a monofacial panel, made in the USA of course, and we will have a higher wind load – 6,000 psi front, 5,400 psi rear – stronger frames, and it will still be the same weight, so it is still under the limit of 50 pounds. A lot of incredibly smart people we work with have put in a lot of hours to make this product from the Wilmer factory, basically the cream of the crop.
How does Trina compare to other manufacturers?
We have a very good mix of what I would call a “cost-quality ratio”. We have a lot of dedicated R&D all over the world, our own R&D facilities, and we put a lot of time and effort into making the best quality panels. I think that’s what separates us: how much time and effort we put into what we do, our price, the cost-quality ratio and the production.
What does Trina focus on in the housing market?
We always try to take the installer and the homeowner into account with our product. How will this ultimately look and function on someone’s roof? And we think about that not just from the physical installation aspect of it, like the aesthetics, the weight, things like that, but also from the long term perspective. What support do these people need for the next 25 years? Do they need a US-based warranty team? Yes, of course we have that. Do they need local sales and support staff? Yes, we have that. And what other value-added services do we have to offer? Looking to the future, US-made panels, additional capacity will come online in the future, always trying to innovate and find ways that will benefit our partners for the next 27 years.
This podcast is sponsored by Trina Solar US
