NexWafe Expands to US with Plans for Multi-Gigawatt Solar Wafer Production
The company's newly established US subsidiary aims for an initial target production volume of 6 GW, utilizing NexWafe’s innovative EpiNex™ production technology.
January 29, 2024. By Abha Rustagi
The company's newly established US subsidiary aims for an initial target production volume of 6 GW, utilizing NexWafe’s innovative EpiNex™ production technology. This technology is being adapted from the company’s 250 MW commercial facility, currently under construction in Bitterfeld, Germany.
As part of this expansion, NexWafe has appointed solar industry veteran Jonathan Pickering as the Vice President of Business Development for North America, tasked with leading the company's US operations.
The move into the US market comes at a time of tremendous growth potential in the solar industry, with 2023 witnessing the nation's largest year of solar installations, reaching a total of 33 GW. The sector is expected to maintain an average annual growth of 14 percent between 2023 and 2028.
NexWafe’s US expansion aligns with the goals of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), strategically aimed at reducing vulnerabilities in the solar-wafer supply chain, which currently faces challenges due to China’s market dominance and potential geopolitical disruptions. The company is actively pursuing strategic partnerships, assessing potential manufacturing locations and regional incentives, and securing offtake agreements for domestic wafer supply.
Working in collaboration with other solar supply chain manufacturers, NexWafe is set to collaborate with the Administration to leverage IRA incentives, realizing its vision of gigawatt-scale wafer manufacturing in North America.
Davor Sutija, CEO of NexWafe, highlighted the significance of silicon wafers in the energy transition, expressing confidence in Jonathan Pickering's leadership as the company ventures into establishing gigawatt-scale wafer manufacturing in the US.
Pickering, with a wealth of experience in the solar industry, previously served as the President of JA Solar Americas and held a Vice President position at Applied Materials.
Pickering emphasized the bottleneck in the domestic supply of silicon wafers for solar companies in the US. “Multiple top-tier solar companies have committed to advanced PV cell and module manufacturing at a multi-gigawatt scale across the US. But now we see a significant bottleneck in the supply chain for a domestic source of silicon wafers,” he said.
Our breakthrough EpiNex direct ‘gas-to-wafer’ manufacturing process targets this exact opportunity. We are developing a gigawatt-scale facility to manufacture high-performance. American-made, thin silicon wafers to serve our US customers, and we can do so while achieving a 60 percent reduction in the carbon footprint compared to today’s technology,” he added.
NexWafe's expansion into the US market signifies a significant move toward securing a reliable and sustainable supply chain for solar wafers, contributing to the country's clean energy goals and fostering growth in the solar industry.
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