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Chinese company to set up shop in Uganda
The Chinese PV cell and
module manufacturer Shenzhen Topway Co. Ltd. says it is building a
module factory in Uganda.
Henry Xia, company CEO,
expects the 3,000 m2 factory, which will make 20 W and 40 W monocrystalline modules, to be finished sometime in August. The
initial investment in Suntopway Solar (Uganda) Ltd., located in
Kampala, is $500,000, and production should start in the fourth
quarter. Xia did not give a capacity for the factory, saying only that
it will be able to produce 200,000 pieces per year, all carrying the
Suntopway brand. It addition to modules, the plant will also
manufacture solar home lighting kits, lanterns, radios, and
flashlights. By the end of 2002, Xia expects to produce 10 kW of
modules there. Suntopway will use cells manufactured at Shenzhen
Topway's headquarters in Shenzhen, China.
Xia intends to distribute the products mainly in Uganda, Sudan,
Tanzania, and Nigeria. He chose Uganda as a location because of the
sales potential in Africa; Shenzhen Topway sold $10 million worth of
product there in 2001. Xia also plans to sell the product outside of
Africa, but did not name specific countries, saying only that he was
going for certification in the US and Europe. According to Xia the
decision to build in Uganda has no connection with the World Bank's
four-year, $10.8 million Energy for Rural Transformation Program to
help private companies market, sell, and install PV products in Uganda
(see PI 3/2002, p. 8).
William P.
Hirshman
© PHOTON International, Juni 2002
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