First Solar, a US-based solar module manufacturer, is evaluating options to set up a solar equipment manufacturing unit in India. This is a part of its capacity expansion plan.
The company’s plan will depend on evaluation of all options closer to demand centres that provide cost-competitive labour and raw material.
The decision to look at other production centres is also to provide an alternative source of supply of silicon crystalline technology to countries looking beyond China.
The company is assessing the potential for capacity expansion and may seek to diversify its manufacturing presence beyond the US, Malaysia and Vietnam.
The factors in the evaluation include geographic proximity to solar demand where the company has an energy or a competitive advantage; the ability to export cost competitively to other markets; cost-competitive labour, low energy cost, and low real estate cost; and a cost-competitive supply chain to support the sourcing of raw materials and components.
The company has an installed base of more than 1.2 GW of modules in India and commenced project development since 2014.
