Chinese group Das Solar launches its solar panel factory project in Doubs

Installed on a former ten-hectare industrial wasteland, sold to it by the Montbéliard urban community, the factory is to accommodate two production lines with a total capacity of 2 gigawatts (GW) per year initially.

Photovoltaic panels for floating solar farms, rooftops, and shade structures will be manufactured there. These "N TOPCon" type systems are "the most efficient in the world," according to Frédéric Barbier, the project director.

Representatives of the UIMM employers' union have already left for China to study the profiles of the job vacancies to be filled, in order to anticipate recruitment.

Das Solar, founded in 2018, already has 14 factories worldwide, with a total capacity of 55 GW. By 2023, its revenues had reached $3,71 billion (€3,2 billion).

The group plans to eventually establish a second two-gigawatt production unit in Doubs, for a total investment of €190 million. This expansion "will depend on the order book," Barbier said.

In order to create "a complete Made in France sector," Das Solar also plans to build a photovoltaic cell factory nearby in Sochaux, upstream of assembly. This project, if completed, would involve €650 million in investments, 2.500 jobs, and the establishment in the region of several industrial partners, such as manufacturers of adhesive films, connectors, aluminum frames, and other components.

The state has promised "financial support" for this project, declared the prefect of Doubs, Rémi Bastille.

Das Solar has also signed an agreement with Suez for the reprocessing of end-of-life panels, and an agreement with the Île-de-France Photovoltaic Institute for research and development.

Two other giant photovoltaic panel factories are planned in France: one in Hambach (Moselle), led by the HoloSolis group, which aims to make it the largest in Europe, and the other in Fos-sur-Mer, near Marseille, led by the French group Carbon.