May 29 2008

Masdar Invests $2 Billion in Thin-Film Solar

Earlier this month we profiled Masdar, Abu Dhabi's initiative to create a renewable energy city. 

Today, the company announced Masdar PV, a $2 billion investment in thin-film solar production capacity.  The investment lays the groundwork for Abu Dhabi to go beyond being a consumer of clean energy, but also an exporter.

The company will begin by opening a thin-film factory in Germany in 2009, followed by a factory in Abu Dhabi a year later. The goal is to reach 210 megawatts of production capacity in a couple of years.

The announcement comes on the heels of Q-Cells' selection of Mexico for its latest manufacturing center.  Interestingly, Q-Cells' original manufacturing facility is based in Germany.

Q-Cells' new manufacturing center, based in Mexicali, will be hosted in a 10,000 acre science and technology industrial park.  Proximity to the U.S. market appears to be a major driver of the move.  Production in Mexico will no doubt create additional competition for U.S. thin-film producers like First Solar, Nanosolar, and OptiSolar.

Posted by: Keely Wachs | Comments (0) digg delicioussend to a friendprint entry

 

Categories

Energy , Environment , Solar

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