Hanwha Q Cells and Kalyon Enerji’s joint venture has started the construction of the 500MW Fully Integrated Photovoltaic manufacturing facility in Ankara, Turkey.
The ground-breaking ceremony was attended by Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and Minister of Energy and National Resources Berat Albayrak.
The PV facility is said to be the result of the Karapinar Renewable Energy Resource Area (YEKA) tender offer. The Turkish government had awarded the project to the consortium of Hanwah Q Cells and Kalyon Enerji in this March.
The joint venture of Hanwha-Kalyon will also set up an on-site research and development (R&D) center to carry out several research projects in solar technology.
The new manufacturing facility is expected to be fully integrated from ingot, wafer, cell and module processes. When completed, the modules produced at the facility will be used in the construction of the 1GW solar power plant to be built in Konya-Karapinar.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said: “Today, we lay the foundation for the future of energy technologies and enrich renewable alternative energy sources in Turkey.
“YEKA project is one of the most ambitious energy projects in the world today, and can only be realized by high competencies and expertise by Hanwha Q CELLS, a global leader in solar power, and Kalyon, a leader in construction and infrastructure projects.”
Hanwha Q CELLS said that it will implement its Q.ANTUM high efficiency solar cell technology at the new site. The technology is claimed to boost yield in real world scenarios, by applying a passivation layer on the solar cells back side (PERC), by adding various technological features such as Hot-Spot Protection and TRA.Q laser marking and by controlling the various degradation effects (PID, LID, LeTID).
Hanwha Q CELLS CEO Seongwoo Nam said: “Hanwha Q CELLS is proud to be joining forces with the government of the Republic of Turkey and Kalyon Enerji. We will contribute our manufacturing expertise as well as our technology leadership.
“We are fully committed to execute this YEKA project successfully leveraging combined competencies of Hanwha Q CELLS and Kalyon Enerji and to make it an important milestone on Turkey´s path towards sustainable energy supply for the people of Turkey.”
Image: Hanwha Q Cells testing center. Photo: Courtesy of Hanwha Q CELLS.