NEW YORK — Trina Solar Ltd., the world's largest solar manufacturer in 2014, will build a US$160 million factory in Thailand to produce modules and cells used in its panels.
The facility will have the capacity to make 500 megawatts of modules and 700 megawatts of cells, Changzhou, China-based Trina Solar said Wednesday in a statement. Production will begin late this year or early next year.
"Thailand is an ideal location for us to build a new manufacturing base due to its proximity to key emerging markets in the Asia-Pacific region," Zhiguo Zhu, chief operating officer of Trina's module business unit, said in the statement.
Global solar installations this year may exceed 60 gigawatts -- with almost half of that in China and Japan -- and surpass 68 gigawatts next year, according data compiled by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.