Heliene And Premier Energies Partner To Build US PV Cell Facility

Canadian solar module manufacturing firm Heliene recently collaborated with Premier Energies to create a solar cell manufacturing facility in the US. Under the terms of a recently executed agreement, the new facility can produce an annual aggregate capacity of 1 GW NType cells to supply Heliene’s US cell requirement as well as Premier’s. 

With this joint venture and new cell plant, the companies are investing in the growing US solar industry and capitalizing on important incentives and tax credits for domestic clean energy manufacturing introduced under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022.

This joint venture builds on a longstanding partnership between Heliene and Premier Energies. Heliene currently sources solar cells from PEPPL’s Hyderabad facility for use in module manufacturing at its Mountain Iron, MN location.

“Premier Energies has been a valued partner of Heliene’s for many years now and we share a commitment to providing the highest-quality, most reliable products to solar customers. With demand for US-made modules and components growing, now is the perfect time to embark on the next phase of our partnership with this joint venture,” said Martin Pochtaruk, CEO of Heliene. “Our new cell manufacturing facility will not only expand the footprint and impact of each of our companies, but it will also establish us as true leaders in the effort to friend-shore up the US solar manufacturing supply chain.”

The IRA introduced important tax credits for the domestic production of solar cells, modules and components, but new US-based cell manufacturing capacity is still required to meet increased demand for solar modules and projects. Heliene and Premier Energies’ planned facility will directly address this demand. Cells produced at the new site and incorporated into existing US module manufacturing operations will also support developers seeking additional tax credits and incentives for their solar projects, including the lucrative domestic content bonus adder.
“As pioneers in solar technology and with our years of experience in solar cell manufacturing, Premier Energies is proud to partner with a fellow innovator and industry leader in Heliene,” said Chiranjeev Saluja, Managing Director at Premier Energies. “This joint venture will leverage the best of both companies’ resources and knowledge to tap the largely unaddressed demand for US cell manufacturing.”

Under the terms of the joint venture, Heliene will contribute construction, project management, human resources, financial resources and management, facility operations, supply chain and logistics, and regulatory expertise. Premier will contribute cell technology engineering and operational expertise in the manufacturing process of the cells, manufacturing equipment selection, financial resources, raw material vendor relationships and supply agreements management. The Companies will announce further details on the project’s scope and timeline shortly.