Solarge Runs 150 MW Composite Solar Module Line in Weert, Designed to Scale to 400 MW
Dutch manufacturer Solarge has been running a 150 MW module factory in Weert, Netherlands since May 2023, equivalent to around 300,000 solar panels per year, according to pv magazine.
The site was built with headroom. Solarge says its facilities and infrastructure are designed to support a future expansion to 400 MW.
The product the line is built around is the SOLO module, which swaps the glass-and-aluminium construction used across most of the crystalline silicon industry for composite materials. That cuts module weight to 5.5 kg/m², roughly half that of traditional solar panels. The weight reduction matters for rooftops with limited load capacity, including logistics warehouses and older industrial buildings that fail structural assessments for conventional glass modules.
Solarge is also pushing a circularity and chemicals angle. The company says the SOLO module is the first solar panel worldwide certified under the C2C Certified Circularity program and the first to meet version 4.1 of the standard, at Silver level. The module is free of PFAs, the so-called forever chemicals, and free of antimony, two materials drawing increasing regulatory and environmental scrutiny.
The positioning sets Solarge apart from the dominant Chinese crystalline silicon supply chain on weight, end-of-life handling, and chemical content rather than on cell efficiency or cost per watt. Whether that is enough to justify the move from 150 MW to 400 MW will depend on uptake from segments where conventional modules cannot be installed and where buyers are willing to pay for verified circularity claims.
Source: pv-magazine.com (opens in a new tab)1 sourcePermalink