Silfab Solar has announced the opening of its third solar panel assembly facility in North America. The new 400-MW capacity factory in Burlington, Washington, is just 24 miles south of its sister factory in Bellingham, Washington. Silfab is headquartered and has its original factory outside Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The Burlington facility
The new Burlington facility will initially produce Silfab’s newest Prime 370-W series of modules. The addition of this plant brings Silfab’s U.S. solar silicon panel manufacturing capacity to 800 MW.
See a list of U.S. solar panel manufacturers here.
“Silfab has a long and successful history of optimizing North American manufacturing excellence and producing high-quality, extremely durable and very efficient PV modules – exclusively designed and manufactured for the North American homeowner,” said CEO Paolo Maccario. “Silfab’s hallmarks – advanced engineering, superior quality and high-touch customer service – will remain at the forefront of our ongoing expansion.”
Silfab Solar formed in 2010 out of a collaboration of various vertically integrated solar PV product companies. In 2018, the company bought Itek Energy to establish its U.S. manufacturing hub in Bellingham.
Silfab produces high-efficiency solar panels for use in the residential and commercial markets. The company uses an electrically conductive backsheet to move all contacts to the backside of the module.
“Northwest Washington provides Silfab with a highly trained and motivated labor force, a location that incentivizes innovation, and ideal transportation and shipping routes that complement our just-in-time manufacturing model,” Maccario said.
“The new Burlington facility will initially produce Silfab’s newest Prime 370-W series of modules. The addition of this plant brings Silfab’s U.S. solar silicon panel manufacturing capacity to 800 MW.”
This is great news, and yet, is it too little, too late? What does the rest of the World say about China’s cheap solar PV panels? IF you as a solar PV business can get ‘quality’ solar PV panels in manufacturing lots of $0.16/watt and $0.21/watt with tariffs or pay $0.35/watt for good ol’ made in America Silfab, what would you choose? There are folks suffering all over the World for lack of some small amount of electricity available. In countries like Africa, India, Pakistan, these people may have an income of an equivalent $100 to $600 USD a month (is this considered ‘slave wages’?), they are embracing nano-grids with a couple of solar PV panels, a couple of batteries and LED lighting and USB port charging stations that make their daily lives easier.
For instance one of the American made list is Sunergy California, Jinko Solar, but the country of origin is China. We’ve seen the claims of vetting one’s “supply chain” to avoid “slave labor” (solar panels). Yet we also see the articles of China still owns the silicon foundry manufacturing with at least four massive plants in China. Do “American” companies fudge and still get imported wafer or ingot products from China from areas of China (not) accused of slave labor? I call this concatenated, politically driven “metrics” of political weaseling out for what it is, the inability of America to manufacture in this country without at “least” relying on another country for a robust and reliable supply chain.
Is silfab owned by China?