Saint-Gobain has announced the building of a third high-efficiency PV panels facility in Korea, in association with Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (HHI), after launching the construction of a second Avancis plant in Germany, in June. The first manufacturing facility for the 50-50 jv will be designed identically, both in manufacturing capacity & technology terms, to the second Avancis plant currently under construction in Germany. The facility will produce an annual volume of 850,000 modules based on CIGS (Copper - Indium - Gallium - Selenide) thin-film technology, designed for roofs and solar fields, equivalent to an annual power output of 100 MW, or the yearly energy requirements of a town with 15,000 inhabitants. The site is scheduled to start operations the second quarter of 2012 and will supply the global market with modules marketed independently by Avancis and HHI. "With this investment, Saint-Gobain significantly accelerates its growth on the solar market, by banking on a competitive and innovative technology. This latest illustration of the Group's commitment to renewable energies testifies to the growth potential of Avancis, the reference player on the high-efficiency thin-film PV modules market," states Pierre-Andre de Chalendar, Chairman and CEO of Compagnie de Saint-Gobain.
