Singapore-based integrated PV manufacturer REC Solar, recently acquired by Elkem Bluestar, is undergoing site selection analysis for its next major capacity expansion.
Despite incremental capacity expansions to 1.3GW at its Singapore fab and full utilisation, REC Solar remains capacity constrained due to significant demand for modules from the US market, driven by demand from new customers such as SolarCity, the largest residential installer in the country.
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Speaking to PV Tech during Intersolar North America last week, Arndt Lutz senior vice president, sales and marketing, North America for REC Solar said: “Our shipments could have been more impressive than they were last year [2014] due to a mismatch between cell and module production. We could have sold a gigawatt.”
PV Tech estimates that REC Solar shipped over 800MW in 2014.
Lutz noted that the company expected to ship over 50% of its module production in 2015 to the US, accounting for around 700MW of production capacity, compared to 115MW shipped to the US in 2014.
REC Solar has been one of several PV manufacturers benefiting from having production outside China and Taiwan after the US strengthened its anti-dumping duties.
US demand due to both anti-dumping duties and the impending reduction in the US solar investmen tax credit (ITC) has proved a massive boon to REC Solar, just as the European market, excluding the UK has declined. Europe had been the company’s major end-market since its inception.
“We are experiencing strong demand for our products with the main focus of managing expectations,” noted Lutz. “We do not have enough capacity to supply 72-cell modules this year but will be rectified next year.”
The larger modules are primarily used in utility-scale PV projects and are popular in the US.
Having been capacity constrained REC Solar is one of the few top 20 PV manufacturers that have yet to officially announce further meaningful expansions, outside previous plans of incremental expansion in Singapore last year.
However, Lutz confirmed that the new owners wanted the company to expand strongly and site selection analysis was ongoing in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong New Territories as well as considering new production facilities in Singapore, where it has allocated land to expand adjacent to its existing facility.
No timelines or further details were forthcoming but major expansions already announced by other tier-one producers are in the 1.0GW range as the PV market continues to expand.
