- Das Solar breaks ground on €109m solar panel factory in eastern France, creating 600 jobs with an initial 2 GW capacity.
- Plans are underway for the region’s second factory and solar cell plant, which could attract €650m investment and create 2,500 additional jobs.
- The company partners with Suez and a French research institute to support European panel recycling and solar innovation.
Chinese solar company Das Solar has started building its first European factory in Mandeure, near Montbéliard in eastern France.
The company is investing €109 million ($116 million) to turn a 10-hectare industrial wasteland into a solar panel assembly plant. It bought the land from the Pays de Montbéliard urban community.
Das Solar will install two production lines, with a total annual output of 2 gigawatts (GW), creating 600 jobs.
The plant will produce panels for rooftops, solar canopies, and floating systems. The factory will use “N-TOPCon” technology, which the company already uses in Asia.
Frédéric Barbier, project director, said Das Solar wants to expand in Europe and sees this plant as a first step. The company plans a second production unit with another 2 GW capacity. This second phase would raise the total investment to €190 million ($202 million).
Das Solar will launch the second phase only if it receives enough orders to justify the expansion.
The company, founded in 2018, operates 14 factories worldwide. Its global production capacity has reached 55 GW. In 2023, the company earned $3.71 billion (€3.2 billion) in revenue.
Das Solar also plans to build a solar cell manufacturing plant in Sochaux. The company expects this new plant to cost €650 million ($692 million) and generate 2,500 jobs.
Das Solar aims to attract suppliers such as adhesive film, connector, and aluminium frame producers to the region and build a full solar manufacturing value chain in eastern France.
Rémi Bastille, Prefect of Doubs, confirmed that the government will support the project financially. He did not share specific funding details.
The Union des Industries et Métiers de la Métallurgie (UIMM) sent representatives to China. They are working with Das Solar to define the job profiles needed for the factory.
Das Solar signed an agreement with French utility Suez to handle the recycling of old solar panels. The company also partnered with the Institut photovoltaïque d’Île-de-France to support solar research and development.
Das Solar wants to create a solar industrial cluster in the region. The company has not released a timeline for these additional plans.
Two other companies are also setting up solar panel factories in France. HoloSolis is building a site in Hambach, Moselle. Carbon is developing a facility in Fos-sur-Mer, near Marseille.
France continues to grow its solar manufacturing sector. These projects aim to increase local production and reduce import dependence.
Das Solar’s move highlights growing Chinese interest in European clean energy. The Mandeure factory will help Europe build solar capacity and meet its green energy goals.