aleo solar GmbH, a subsidiary of Taiwan-based Sino American Silicon Products Inc. (SAS), is set to establish its own cell production facility in Prenzlau, Germany. The facility is planned for 200MW of multi-si and mono-si solar PV cells per year, while the production operation will be carried out by aleo Sunrise GmbH, a 100% subsidiary of aleo solar.

SAS was founded in 1981 and acquired aleo solar in early 2014. The set-up of the cell production facility by aleo sunrise GmbH has been supported by an SAS investment of around 15 million euros. "We benefit from SAS Group’s longstanding commitment to renewable energy," says William Chen, CEO of aleo sunrise GmbH, who also remains responsible for sales, marketing and purchasing as CSO at aleo solar.

"aleo solar will benefit from greater flexibility through the cell production in Germany and will be well positioned across the photovoltaic value chain", says Günter Schulze, CEO of aleo solar GmbH. "With both cells and modules made in Germany we protect ourselves against anti-dumping duties and cost increases through exchange rate fluctuations. By integrating an additional production step at our headquarters in Germany, our engineers can also better fuse together the cell and module technologies," says Schulze. "As a result aleo can even better ensure the quality and efficiency of our production in Germany."