EERE SunShot partners, Silevo and SolarCity have announced plans to join forces to build one of the world’s largest module factories in Buffalo, New York. Solar City acquired Silevo, a solar panel technology and manufacturing company whose modules have demonstrated a combination of high energy output and low cost. The expansion of the factory in Buffalo is estimated to create more than 1,000 jobs.

Solar City has also stepped into Silevo’s negotiations with the state of New York to locate a new solar panel manufacturing plant, re-shoring the company’s manufacturing facilities from China. At a targeted capacity greater than 1 GW within the next two years, this facility will be one of the largest solar panel production plants in the world. In subsequent years, Solar City plans to construct one or more significantly larger plants at an order of magnitude greater annual production capacity, as part of a newly-announced plan to build out significant solar manufacturing capacity in order to achieve a major breakthrough in the cost of solar power.

Under their 2014 SolarMat2 award, Silevo is developing a next generation plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition thin-film manufacturing tool, leveraging tool architectures commercialized in the LCD industry to enable manufacture of high-performance tunnel-junction silicon photovoltaic cells. The result will be a significant reduction in capital costs for domestic high-volume manufacturing, reduced wafer-to-cell conversion costs, and a domestically manufactured product line at a global best-in-class price.

Positive Impact

EERE SunShot partners, Silevo and SolarCity to build one of the world’s largest module factories creating more than 1,000 jobs.

Locations

New York

Partners

Silevo, SolarCity

EERE Investment

$3 Million

Clean Energy Sector

Renewable electricity generation

The Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) focuses on achieving the goals of the SunShot Initiative, which seeks to make solar energy cost-competitive with other forms of electricity by the end of the decade.

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) success stories highlight the positive impact of its work with businesses, industry partners, universities, research labs, and other entities.