RENEWABLE ENERGY
MASS PRODUCTION OF ALPHA SERIES SOLAR MODULES COMMENCES IN SINGAPORE A further demonstra on of the manufacturer’s commitment to promo ng the use of clean energy. REC Group, an interna onal pioneering solar energy company recently announced that the produc on of the REC Alpha Series solar panel has started in Tuas, Singapore. The world’s highest power 60-cell module is now rolling off the line at a rate of 5,000 panels per week, which will be ramped up to over 30,000 panels per week, by early 2020. To produce the REC Alpha Series, REC has invested a total of USD 150 million into the company’s state-of-theart site and developed a new ‘Industry 4.0’ cell fab. The project was completed in record me, through close collabora on with Meyer Burger in Singapore, Germany and Switzerland and over 250 contractors on site, who worked round-the-clock to build new facili es and infrastructure as well as specialised produc on equipment. This step amounts to an addi onal 600 MW of heterojunc on (HJT) cell and module capacity, bringing REC Group’s total module capacity in Singapore to 1.8 GW annually. With this expansion, the REC Tuas opera on has become one of the largest and most advanced solar PV manufacturing opera ons.
An exterior view of the REC Group’s facility in Singapore.
For Alpha, REC has brought on-board and trained more than 300 new employees in all func onal areas. The mass produc on start came just a couple of weeks before the start of the Asia Clean Energy Summit 2019 (ACES), a conference dedicated to collabora on on critical issues and opportuni es in harnessing clean energy for the future. ACES 2019 was held in Singapore, from 30 October to 1 November 2019. Alpha was ini ally launched at Intersolar Europe on 15 May 2019. From an ini al produc on, 25,000 modules were already shipped all around the world, with the first roo op systems installed in Italy, the Netherlands, US, New Zealand and Japan. For homeowners, Alpha is an ideal roo op module to dras cally reduce their electricity bills and lead the shi towards a cleaner future by going solar with the latest technology. U lising advanced commercialised technology, the REC 60-cell Alpha Series solar panel delivers up to 380 Wa peak (Wp). This translates to a leading power density of 217 W/m², providing 20% more power than conven onal panels over the same area. “Our dedicated goal is to empower consumers. And we know that only with big leaps, the global energy transion can thrive. Alpha is a crucial tool for homeowners to do exactly this and gain energy autonomy”, said Steve O’Neil, CEO, REC. “It is a bold move jumping to HJT, and it is also very bold to do 600 MW in one shot - but being bold and innovave is in REC’s DNA. And Singapore is the perfect loca on 22
THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER February 2020
REC Group has commenced produc on of REC Alpha Series solar panels.
to do this. With close to 10 GW of REC solar panels manufactured and installed worldwide to-date, genera ng almost 13 TWh of clean energy and empowering more than 16 million people at their homes, REC Group is a credible advocate for the global energy transi on”, said Shankar G Sridhara, Chief Technology Officer, REC.
