On September 23, Trina Solar announced that it entered into an investment cooperation agreement with the Changzhou National High-tech Industrial Development Zone Management Committee and will be expanding its annual solar module production capacity by 15GW.

As the global photovoltaic market continues to grow，and the Internet of Things, big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence are widely used in the energy sector, Trina Solar will expand production capacity further through reliance on its rich experience in new energy products, design, construction, and O&M services. Trina Solar plans to comprehensively update production lines, upgrade products and technologies, construct a 15GW ultra-high-power and high-efficiency module production base, and use the industrial advantages of Changzhou High-tech Park to obtain maximum economic benefits.

Trina Solar estimates that the 15GW project will cost about 3 billion yuan, of which 1.5 billion yuan will go towards equipment. Construction of the project is expected to begin in 2020 and finish in 2023.

Within the industry, Trina Solar is an active proponent of ultra-high-power module products based on large-sized cells and aims to drive home its advantages in terms of large-scale advanced module production capacity for large cells.

It is safe to assume that the construction of this new 15GW production base will support the production of Trina Solar’s new Vertex series of 600W/550W ultra-high power modules given Trina Solar’s previous statements. The company had previously forecasted a total cell production capacity of around 26 GW by the end of 2021, of which the large 210 mm cells are expected to account for some 70%. It had also stated all module production capacity due to be built from the second half of 2020 onwards will be for ultra-high-power modules, with total module production capacity forecasted to reach around 22 GW by the end of 2020 and around 50 GW by the end of 2021.