The new company is expected to bring 2 GW of solar panel production capacity to the US market within 18 to 24 months.
ReCreate, a joint venture between the founders of US-based Create Energy and EU-based Recom Technologies, announced in mid-June a plan to build a 5 GW solar module and cell manufacturing facility in Portland, Tennessee. Create Energy is the brainchild of Dean Solon, who previously grew Shoals Technologies Group from a Tennessee-based startup to a publicly traded PV BOS manufacturer in January 2021. Hamlet Tunyan is the CEO of Recom Technologies, a European module manufacturer.
PV magazine spoke with both solar entrepreneurs about the future factory during last month’s Intersolar 2024 in Munich, Germany.
“By the first quarter of 2025, we will have two module assembly lines in the factory, with a capacity of up to 2 GW,” Tunyan said. “We will then start cell production within 18 to 24 months.” ReCreate may acquire another building for the use of the cell lines.
The company will initially source solar cells from Asia, excluding China. “We could even import cells from Korea,” Tunyan said. “We need to meet the increasing demand for modules in the United States,” Solon added. “Project developers are currently in trouble and we want to offer them reliable products.” Higher tariffs on solar panels imported from Southeast Asia threaten to limit their supply to the U.S. downstream market. Southeast Asian manufacturers account for 80% of solar energy components in the US.
Solon also explained that the ReCreate modules produced at Create will be part of a combined package from Create Solutions. This can include equipment that EPCs need for their projects, such as transformers, switchgear, MBOS, BESS and EVSE. “Create Energy, together with Create Solutions, wholly owned subsidiaries of Create Holdings, form a one-stop shop where you can obtain all the equipment and services needed for renewable energy projects,” Solon said.
The module manufacturing facility will initially produce TOPCon panels, although ReCreate could also consider adding heterojunction (HJT) or back-contact (BC) products to its portfolio. “Wherever module technology goes, that’s where we go; we will always be at the forefront,” Solon and Tunyan specified.
He also revealed that ReCreate’s modules will be used in the future in what they call “next-gen” PV systems. “Create’s vision is to provide solutions that overcome labor constraints and maximize system reliability at the lowest installed cost per kW,” Solon said. “This includes optimizing the interaction between modules, trackers, power plants and other integrated systems.”
At his own company, Create Energy, Solon is leading the way in disrupting the energy storage and microgrid markets. NanoGrid, the company’s first product, will be the microgrid solution for a leading Japanese automaker, expanding to dealerships across North America. According to Solon, NanoGrid “includes rooftop and rooftop solar, battery energy storage and site load monitoring, coupled with Level 2 and Level 3 EV charging solutions.”
In addition to starting Create Energy, Solon also anchored the creation of Neos Partners following the IPO and his departure from Shoals. Neos raised $830 million as a private equity fund that has invested in six companies to date, a very impressive track record for a fund that closed in spring ’23. Solon calls this collection of target companies a “non-evil empire” that provides transformers, switchgear, EPC and engineering services. “Create’s cleantech products are reimagining renewables beyond utility infrastructure and into the low-energy EV, data center and artificial intelligence (AI) markets,” said Solon.
As Solon revealed in Munich, ReCreate modules and cells are just the beginning. “Made in Tennessee” batteries also appear to be in the works and the focus will be on delivering complete EV, PV and BESS solutions from Create Energy to the North American and European markets, delivering large-scale EPCs, renewable energy developers, and Commercial and Industrial (C&I).
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