JinkoSolar, the largest solar panel manufacturer in the world, is ramping up production at its first factory on U.S. soil.
The Jacksonville, Florida facility will produce 400 megawatts of passivated emitter rear contact (PERC) modules a year, primarily for clean energy firm NextEra Energy—which owns Florida Power & Light—as well as for commercial and residential customers. The modules will come in two sizes: 60-cell panels for residential use and 72-cell panels for industrial and utilities customers. Over the next four years the factory will produce enough panels to generate 2,750 megawatts.
The high-tech automated facility can make two panels a minute, which amounts to 1.2 million solar panels a year—thanks to state-of-the-art manufacturing technologies. Soldering is completely automated and robots place and attach junction boxes. Artificial intelligence is used to detect the slightest cracks or imperfections in modules. And machines sort and pack the modules for shipment.
“This is our most advanced facility,” said JinkoSolar Chief Financial Officer Charlie Cao.
The factory will support 200 direct and almost 600 indirect jobs in Jacksonville.
JinkoSolar’s sales in the U.S. have grown 250 per cent since 2013—in fact, the demand far exceeds the 400 megawatts that the Jacksonville plant will produce. This could open the door to future solar panel facilities being built.
Video: https://youtu.be/p_zBS9RChJo
Overview of JinkoSolar’s global operations.
This factory opening is also seen as a response to President Trump’s tariffs on imported solar technology. The tariffs are the latest move to sanction Chinese solar power companies: these firms have been evading previous trade measures by opening factories outside of China. The new tariffs, enacted in early 2018, now cover any imported solar panel technology, regardless of their origin. The tariffs were 30 per cent for the first year and fell to 25 per cent last month. They will continue to drop by five per cent every year until they lapse in 2022.
“Locating our first factory in the United States puts us even closer to our key U.S. customers, allowing us to provide tariff-free modules and better, more efficient local service,” the company said.
JinkoSolar is the first Chinese company to set up a factory in the U.S. after the tariffs were levied. South Korea’s Hanwa Q CELLS has also opened a factory in the U.S. and LG Solar, also from South Korea, will follow later this year.
It would seem that the tariffs are having their intended effect, driving foreign companies to invest and hire in the U.S.—which would set up the domestic solar power market for more growth.
Read more about developments in the solar energy sector at Tin-Based Hybrid Perovskite Improves Solar Cell Efficiency.