India's Moser Baer to branch out into cell and module production

A new solar unit at New Delhi-based CD and DVD manufacturer Moser Baer India Ltd. is planning to start cell and module production with a goal of reaching a capacity of 80 MW by mid-2007. 

According to Vijay Kumar, deputy general manager of Moser Baer Photovoltaic Ltd., commercial production is slated to start by the end of 2006 at a new 10,000 m² factory. 

The PV venture is expected to cost 2.6 billion INR ($56.7 million), of which Moser will invest 1.1 billion INR ($24 million). Kumar declined to give information about remaining funding, what deals had been set up for wafer supply, how the cells and modules would be branded, or details on the production equipment. The company, which will start with one cell line in 2006, will introduce a second line in 2007. Kumar says Moser will be able to produce about 10 MW of 156 × 156 mm pseudo-square cells in 2006, ramping up to 60 MW in 2007 on round-the-clock shifts. Kumar expects that both mono- and multicrystalline will be produced. While using cells for its own modules, ranging in power sizes from 150 to 210 W, Kumar says Moser will also sell them to other module manufacturers in India and overseas. 

Moser says it decided to branch out into solar production, seeing it as synergistic with its core competencies of precision high-technology mass production and thin-film coating. »This looks to be the appropriate timing to go in to the PV field,« adds Kumar. Moser's net profits for the second quarter, ended Sept. 30, were just 30.8 million INR ($671,900), down 82 percent from the same quarter a year earlier.

William P. Hirshman
© PHOTON International, January 2006