Indosolar to ink $2 bln new wafer supply deal with China’s GCL-Poly

Noida-based solar photo-voltaic (SPV) cellmaker Indosolar Ltd is in talks with Chinese polysilicon maker GCL-Poly Energy Holdings for inking a new 4-year solar wafer supply contract worth up to around $2 billion (Rs9,498 crore), Indosolar CEO, S. Venkataramani said in an interview with Reuters.

Indosolar already has a wafer supply contract with GCL worth Rs2,683 ($565 million) that runs till 2014. But having in March this year scaled up its capacity to 360 MW by adding 100 MW, Indosolar is planning to terminate that contract and replace it with a new one for a larger volume and longer period.

By 2020, solar cell production may reach 5000 MW in India and Indosolar has plans to reach 1000 MW by 2015.

Solar energy is expected to represent 60 per cent of world electricity production by the turn of the century. Presently solar energy facilities installed have about 10 GW and by 2012 it will go up to 52GW.

Polysilicon is the primary raw material for production of monocrystalline and multicrystalline ingots. Ingots are then sliced into wafer by wire saws, which will then be used for production of solar cells, modules and systems that convert energy from sunlight into electricity.

One of the world's leading wafer suppliers, GCL-Poly is China's largest polysilicon producer and a top green energy enterprise in China. The company's wafer production capacity is expected to reach 6.5 GW by the end of 2011. In addition to the 11 MW in operation in the U.S., GCL-Poly owns a 20 MW solar farm in Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, which is currently the largest solar farm in China.