Philadelphia Solar partners with Translucent to build solar module manufacturing facility in the U.S.

Philadelphia Solar, a solar manufacturer from Amman, Jordan, announced last year that it plans to build a module factory in the U.S. That plan may be moving closer to reality, as Philadelphia formed a joint venture with Translucent Energy, called Trading Philadelphia. The team will initially supply Tier-1 modules to the U.S. market and has plans to build a solar module manufacturing plant in the U.S. with an expected 1.2 GW annual capacity.

Philadelphia Solar currently operates a 580 MW solar module and mounting structure factory in Amman. The company reports that its facility uses state-of-the-art automated robotic production lines to produce high-efficiency PERC solar cells with positive tolerance power output.

The joint venture, Trading Philadelphia Solar, plans to establish the U.S. manufacturing arm of Philadelphia Solar modules by the end of this year, with full U.S. production by 2024. The company intends to first produce 400- and 530-Watt mono-PERC solar modules for residential and utility-scale markets, with plans to move into heterojunction technology in 2025. The location of the manufacturing facility will be announced in December.

“As the solar market continues to expand, we are delighted to partner with Translucent Energy to undertake this transformative step for our business, first by growing our exports to the USA, and secondly through our planned 1.2 GW panel factory in America,” said Mohammad Shehadeh, CCO of Philadelphia Solar.

The CEO of Translucent Energy, Nour Mousa, is a founder of Desert Technologies, a solar module manufacturer in Saudi Arabia. In addition to this joint-venture, Translucent Energy also makes a containerized solar and storage system, called Tau, for microgrids and off-grid situations. The plan is to establish U.S. manufacturing for the Tau system as well.

“With global supply chains facing unprecedented disruption, many U.S.-based solar developers are struggling to find a reliable and cost-effective source for their solar panels. The exceptional response we are seeing from developers demonstrates that our joint venture addresses a key market need,” said Mousa.

While Philadelphia Solar is currently getting cells and wafers from Thailand, the partners plan to manufacture ingots, wafers, and solar module in the U.S.

In addition to its manufacturing expertise, Philadelphia Solar develops, designs, constructs, owns, and operates utility-scale commercial and industrial photovoltaic plants in the Middle East. The 23 MW Al Badiya solar-plus-storage system in Jordan is one of its largest projects.