PHOTON International The Photovoltaic Magazine

BP Solar plans increase of capacity at Spanish factories in 2006

BP Solar says it plans to add a 20 MW cell production line at its Spanish factory in Tres Cantos for manufacturing mono- and multicrystalline cells to increase capacity to 50 MW.

	© Deutsche BP AG, Geschäftsbereich BP Solar
Growth: BP Solar plans to increase cell capacity to 50 MW at its Tres Cantos facility while doubling module capacity at its San Sebastian de los Reyes factory to the same amount in 2006.

Announced on June 8, the €24 million ($29.5 million) line is slated for completion by the end of 2006, getting it in place just under the wire to help the Maryland, US-headquartered company reach a goal of more than doubling worldwide cell and module capacity to a publicized target of 200 MW of capacity by 2006 (see PI 1/2005, p. 20).

But this latest announcement, along with the current capacity of 15 MW at the BP Solar factory in Bangalore, India, plus previously announced capacity increases to 40 MW in Fredrick, Maryland and 50 MW in Sydney, Australia, would put the 2006 total at only 155 MW. Charles Postles, BP Solar's general manager for operations in Europe, says 200 MW remains the company's 2006 target, which will be reached by expanding »our existing portfolio at manufacturing sites.« While the expansion at Tres Cantos seems new, it is actually a reduced target once promoted by BP Solar. In 2001, the company announced plans to increase capacity to 60 MW by 2004. Postles did not comment on reasons for the delay.

The build-out at the Spanish cell facility will use state-of-art screen-print technology for mono- and multicrystalline cell production and will not be related to the production of BP Solar's laser-grooved buried contact Saturn cells at the plant. BP Solar is also preparing the factory so that an extra 20 MW line can be added depending »on market evolution and our own financial analysis of the investment,« says Postles.

In addition to the Tres Cantos expansion, BP Solar is also planning to double module capacity at its San Sebastian de los Reyes facility near Madrid by the first quarter of 2006 where modules using Saturn cells are currently assembled. With the expanded line, installed at a cost of €4 million ($4.9 million), the San Sebastian site will also manufacture mono- and multicrystalline modules using what BP Solar describes as »touch-less« soldering technology.