Moser Baer India to start PV production

Moser Baer India (BSE: MOSERBAER) announced today that it received approval from the Geneva-based International Electrotechnical Commission for its 40 megawatt thin-film line, clearing the path for the company to begin production.

The IEC approved Moser Baer's line for safety, as well as functional and mechanical capabilities. The SunFab production line was supplied by Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) in a $1.5 billion deal (see Applied Materials gets $1.9B solar equipment order).

The production line in Greater Noida will produce thin film single junction modules, Moser Baer said. The company's subsidiary Moser Baer Photovoltaic is also working on an adjacent 65-MW tandem junction thin film line, as well as developing a 500 MW capacity thin film plant in Chennai.

Xinyu, China-based LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK) signed an agreement last year to supply 640 MW of solar wafers to Moser Baer Photovoltaic (see LDK Solar to supply wafers to Moser Baer).

In May 2007, Moser Baer said trial runs had been satisfactory on the line. The company signed $500 million in agreements for the line's products through 2012 with German-based companies Ralos Vertriebs and Colexon Energy in October (see Moser Baer India inks $500M thin-film deals).

The company plans to reach 600 MW of capacity by 2010 (see Big returns for Shenzhen Topraysolar?).

Moser Baer has also announced plans to build a 1-to-5 MW solar farm in Rajasthan in western India (see Moser Baer to build $25M solar farm in India).

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