3M to Expand Manufacturing in China for Solar Markets
The company will produce various products, including an advanced solar backside barrier film, in its ninth facility in China.
3M has announced — in conjunction with the Hefei High-tech Industrial Development Area — a plan to build a manufacturing site for photovoltaic solar materials and renewable energy products in Hefei High-tech Park.
The new plant, 3M Materials Technologies (Hefei) Co., will produce a variety of products at the new facility, including 3M™ Scotchshield™ Film, an advanced solar backside barrier film used in crystalline silicon solar photovoltaic modules. The project will be the company's ninth manufacturing facility in China. Groundbreaking is set for two-phased construction in the second quarter of 2011.
Hefei is an industrial city, situated between the Yangtze and Huaihe rivers in Central China. This expansion follows other solar material investments in Columbia, Mo., Hilden, Germany, and in Singapore.
The Hefei High-tech Industrial Development Area, founded in 1991, is one of the first national new energy high-tech industrial development areas approved by China’s State Council. 3M established operations in China in 1984. It was the first foreign enterprise to be established outside of the Special Economic Zones. At present, 3M’s operations in China include manufacturing, business offices, technical service, and R&D facilities.
Source: 3M