Hanwha unit to build solar panel material factory for supply to Q Cells

SEOUL, March 24 (Yonhap) -- Hanwha Advanced Materials Inc., a unit under South Korea's energy-to-defense Hanwha Group, will spend US$147 million to build a facility in the U.S. state of Georgia to supply a key material to Hanwha's solar panel arm, the Georgia governor's office has said.

The factory will be located in Cartersville, where Hanwha Q Cells, the solar panel unit of Hanwha Solutions Corp., is building its own solar panel manufacturing facility, according to the website of the office of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Friday.

Hanwha Advanced Materials will supply ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) sheets to Q Cells from the facility.

EVA is a sheet used for adhesion of solar cell modules to protect the cells against shocks or vibrations for longer durability and performance.

The factory aims to go into operation starting June next year.

Hanwha Solutions, the No. 1 manufacturer of solar panel modules in the U.S., unveiled a plan to spend 3.2 trillion won ($2.47 billion) to establish a "solar hub" in Georgia.

It will produce four critical components: solar ingots -- a raw material for manufacturing solar wafers that are used as a base for solar panels -- wafers, cells and modules.

The facility will have an annual capacity of 3.3 gigawatts and go into commercial production by the end of next year.

Hanwha Solutions said it plans to increase the solar production capacity at its Dalton plant in Georgia, to 5.1 GW from the current 1.7 GW by the end of this year.

This will bring the company's total production capacity in the U.S. to 8.4 GW by the end of 2024, which can provide electricity to about 1.3 million households per year.

elly@yna.co.kr
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