On April 15, Suzhou MedicalSystem Technology announced that it had begun installing equipment at its new smart factory for PV cells in Mianyang, a city in China’s Sichuan Province. The investment for the factory amounts to RMB 10.2 billion. The equipment being installed is intended for manufacturing N-type TOPCon cells, indicating the company’s chosen technology path. Once all the necessary equipment is deployed, the factory will begin production. This announcement was first picked up by other Chinese news outlets.

Suzhou MedicalSystem’s main business is the design and marketing of clinical informatics systems and digital hospital solutions. However, earlier this year, the company announced its entry into the solar PV industry with plans to build a factory in Mianyang for manufacturing high-efficiency PV cells. Xinhao New Energy, a wholly-owned and listed subsidiary of Suzhou MedicalSystem, is in charge of the factory’s investment and construction.

Four production lines at the factory site are scheduled to finish equipment installation on May 15, with the first production line commencing calibration and initial production shortly after. Around the same time, the remaining production lines at the factory site will undergo equipment installation. Construction for the factory building is essentially complete, and the equipment move-in plus setup of other complementary infrastructure is currently in full swing. Suzhou MedicalSystem estimates that once the factory is fully operational, it could potentially reach an annual output value exceeding RMB 30 billion. Additionally, the company expects the factory to employs thousands of people. The entire project is expected to be completed June.