HoloSolis SAS, a company founded in 2022 by EIT InnoEnergy, IDEC GROUP and TSE, plans to build a production line for both PV solar cells and modules. The new company will be located close to the French-German border in the district of Sarreguemines. The factory aims to start production in 2025 and, at full capacity, will have a production capacity of five gigawatts per year. Based on a strategic collaboration agreement signed this summer, the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE will support HoloSolis in the technology selection and factory planning during the conceptual design and construction phases.
“HoloSolis’ approach of building a PV production line from solar cells to PV modules while further developing the technology convinced us from the beginning,” says Dr. Jochen Rentsch, head of Technology Transfer within the division Photovoltaics at Fraunhofer ISE. “We are very happy to be able to accompany the young company on its way to become a major European-based producer of PV components.”
The objective of the collaboration is to build cost-effective and efficient PV modules in Europe, based on TOPCon solar cells. Production will ramp up to produce 10 million photovoltaic modules annually, mainly aimed at the residential and commercial PV market. Sustainability in terms of low-carbon production, high recyclability of products and high social standards are an integral part of the factory concept. Therefore, in addition to setting up this new European production capacity, HoloSolis and Fraunhofer ISE will closely cooperate in research and innovation for sustainable solar cell and module production.
“We are very thankful to be working with Fraunhofer ISE to help design our factory”, says Jan Jacob Boom-Wichers, President, and CEO of HoloSolis. “The Fraunhofer ISE team has unparalleled expertise in Europe in N-type TOPCon technology because they participated in its invention. The Fraunhofer ISE team has been very committed and motivated from the onset of the project to help us build the most cost effective and highest quality PV gigafactory in Europe.”
“This project will contribute substantially to the annual capacity goal of 30 gigawatts by 2025 that the European Solar PV Industry Alliance ESIA has set itself,” says Dr. Ralf Preu, director Photovoltaics at Fraunhofer ISE. “The reestablishment of sustainable PV production in the EU is one of our strategic priorities. An integrated high-volume module production is a crucial step on this road and contributes towards the European Union’s energy sovereignty.”