AU Optronics, SunPower set plans for solar cell plant venture

AU Optronics and SunPower said Thursday that they will launch a joint venture to build a solar cell manufacturing plant in Malaysia.

The idea is to ramp up supply of solar cells. AU Optronics is best known for manufacturing LCD screens, but it recently bought a majority stake of M.Setek, a Japanese supplier of polysilicon and wafers. SunPower will contribute process improvements, production and management.

According to the companies, the two companies’ joint venture should be able to ramp supply. Each party will contribute $350 million to the venture over several installments for a $700 million total investment.

For SunPower, the AU Optronics deal will lower costs. The joint venture will own and operate SunPower’s 1.4 gigawatt third solar cell fabrication facility, known as Fab 3, which is under construction. SunPower said the joint venture will cut its Fab 3 capital expense by more than 35 percent per watt.

SunPower’s solar cells have a minimum rated efficiency of 22 percent, the highest commercially available grade.

In other news from SunPower:

• The company completed financing to expand Italy’s largest solar power plant.
• SunPower completed a plant for Duke Energy.