U.S. solar cell production coming via Heliene, Premier Energies joint venture
Building and securing solar cell supply is the key to emerging U.S. / North America solar module manufacturing base. Back in June 2022, we spoke with Martin Pochtaruk, CEO of Heliene, a solar PV manufacturer with facilities in the United States and Canada, about the difficulties in securing solar cells amid all of the various tariffs that are meant to theoretically help a business like his:
“At a distance this might look like a good thing for U.S. manufacturers, but they might not be thinking about where we buy cells from,” says Martin Pochtaruk, CEO of Heliene, which produces just-in-time modules from three, soon to be four, North American facilities.
Since then Heliene has formed several key partnerships to shore up its supply chains, including a solar cell deal with a Suniva that’s on the comeback. Late July came maybe its biggest news yet: Heliene and Premier Energies, India’s 2nd largest solar cell manufacturing company, have announced their joint plan for a U.S. based joint venture to create a solar cell manufacturing facility in the U.S.
Under the terms of a recently-executed agreement, the new facility will produce an annual aggregate capacity of 1 GW n-type cells to supply Heliene’s U.S. cell requirement as well as Premier’s.
This joint venture and new cell plant builds on a longstanding partnership between Heliene and Premier Energies and a shared commitment to providing solar customers and developers with long-term, highly bankable, reliable and sustainable products. Heliene currently sources solar cells from PEPPL’s Hyderabad facility for use in module manufacturing at its Mountain Iron, MN location.
“Premier Energies has been a valued partner of Heliene’s for many years now and we share a commitment to providing the highest-quality, most-reliable products to solar customers. With demand for U.S.-made modules and components growing, now is the perfect time to embark on the next phase of our partnership with this joint venture,” Pochtaruk says. “Our new cell manufacturing facility will not only expand the footprint and impact of each of our companies, but it will also establish us as true leaders in the effort to friend-shore up the U.S. solar manufacturing supply chain.”
Under the terms of the joint venture, Heliene will contribute construction, project management, human resources, financial resource and management, facility operations, supply chain and logistics, and regulatory expertise. Premier will contribute cell technology engineering and operational expertise in the manufacturing process of the cells, manufacturing equipment selection, financial resources, raw material vendor relationships and supply agreements management. The Companies will announce further details on the project’s scope and timeline shortly.
Domestic tax credits
The IRA introduced important tax credits for the domestic production of solar cells, modules and components, but new U.S.-based cell manufacturing capacity is still required to meet increased demand for solar modules and projects.
Heliene and Premier Energies’ planned facility will directly address this demand. Cells produced at the new site and incorporated into existing U.S. module manufacturing operations will also support developers seeking additional tax credits and incentives for their solar projects, including the lucrative domestic content bonus adder.
“As pioneers in solar technology and with our years of experience in solar cell manufacturing, Premier Energies is proud to partner with a fellow innovator and industry leader in Heliene,” said Chiranjeev Saluja, Managing Director at Premier Energies. “This joint venture will leverage the best of both companies’ resources and knowledge to tap the largely unaddressed demand for U.S. cell manufacturing.”
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