Canadian solar panel developer Heliene and Indian solar cell company Premier Energies have just established a new joint venture to build a local solar cell factory in the United States.
Joint venture details
According to the press release, Heliene and Premier Energies announced their plans to invest in a new solar cell production facility in the US (near Minneapolis) on Thursday as they seek to establish a strong domestic supply chain.
The upcoming solar cell factory will reportedly yield an annual aggregate capacity of 1 GW NTyp cells. The factory’s output will fulfill the solar cell demand of both parties in the US.
The joint venture will benefit from major incentives and tax credits for domestic clean energy manufacturing under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Heliene and Premier Energies’ project is undoubtedly good news for the US, considering the current shortage of local solar cell manufacturing capacity.
“This joint venture will leverage the best of both companies’ resources and knowledge to tap the largely unaddressed demand for US cell manufacturing.”
Chiranjeev Saluja, Premier Energies Managing Director
Separation of duties
As part of the joint venture agreement, Heliene will manage the following duties:
- Solar cell factory construction
- Project management
- Human resources
- Financial resource and management
- Facility operations
- Supply chain and logistics
- Regulatory expertise
On the other hand, Premier Energies will oversee the following tasks:
- Solar cell technology engineering and operational expertise in manufacturing process
- Manufacturing equipment selection
- Financial resources
- Raw material vendor relationships
- Supply agreements management
Existing partnership
It is worth noting that Heliene and Premier Energies already have an existing partnership.
Heliene currently sources the solar cells requirement of its solar panel factory in Mountain Iron, Minnesota, from Premier Energies’ cutting-edge Hyderabad factory.
“Premier Energies has been a valued partner of Heliene’s for many years now and we share a commitment to providing the highest-quality, most reliable products to solar customers.
With demand for U.S.-made modules and components growing, now is the perfect time to embark on the next phase of our partnership with this joint venture.”
Heliene CEO Martin Pochtaruk
Heliene and Premier Energies plan to kick off solar cell production at their new US-based factory in Q2 2026. The partners promised to disclose more details about the project’s scope and timeline “shortly.”
