Finnish company ”Valoe” and Lithuanian solar energy solutions company “SoliTek” agreed to cooperate manufacturing Interdigitated Back Contact (”IBC”) cells in “SoliTek” Vilnius plant, Lithuania. The first production cells are estimated to be manufactured in the second half of 2019.
The Lithuanian solar cell plant will be one of the few production plants in the world where IBC or similar cells can be manufactured. “Valoe” estimates that the annual capacity at the company’s new solar cell plant will be approx. 60 MW at the first stage and the capacity can be doubled to approx. 120 MW with minor investments.
“Our own solar cell production and especially production of the IBC cells is an achievement that we could only dream about couple of years ago. So far, this deal is the most important step for “Valoe” to meet its strategic goals. Now, “Valoe” has a chance to get to the same technology level with LG, “Sunpower” and “Panasonic”.
We trust that we are able to compete in terms of both quality and price. Our back-contact module, having a glass-glass structure and IBC cells that have longer economic lifetime, is expected to last more than 40 years. We are now one step closer to our goal to provide technology for generating solar energy with the lowest cost over its lifetime, Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE),” says Iikka Savisalo, “Valoe” CEO.
“Lithuanian “Global BOD Group” (GBG), owning the solar cell R&D and production company “SoliTek R&D” (operating the “SoliTek” brand), as of the end of 2018 is entering an active expansion and business streamlining phase.
That includes establishing the full vertical business integration model – from solar cell research and development until the final installation of power plants: residential market in Baltic States and utility scale projects in Eastern Europe,” – says Vidmantas Janulevičius, CEO and chairman of the board, “Global BOD Group”.
To ensure fluent business as well as manufacturing processes, Lithuanian company will focus on solar modules production by doubling its capacity with the new glass-glass module production line already in 2019 and inviting such trusted international partners as “Valoe” to cooperate on solar cell development and production.
“Our main goal is to focus business on our strengths, which are producing high quality European made solar modules and supplying them to the final customer all across the EU.
We are embracing the new possibilities and constantly looking for new business areas that are closest to the customer. Therefore, new residential installations company launched last year to serve local market.
Moreover, at the beginning of this year, we have started a new business – “SoliTek” building integrated PV (BIPV) solar technology services for medium and large corporate clients. And we will focus on the client even more in the future,” – said Vidmantas Janulevičius, CEO and chairman of the board, “Global BOD Group”.
