Yingli Green Energy announced a 300 MW PANDA mono-crystalline silicon-based manufacturing capacity expansion project at its Baoding headquarters. The company will finance the project from a loan of RMB 1.5 billion and a working capital credit facility of RMB 250 million, both granted by the Bank of Communications, Hebei Branch (BOCOM).

The new production lines will be designed to produce next-generation high efficiency PV cells based on the technology developed through Project PANDA – which is a collaboration among Yingli Green Energy, the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands and Amtech Systems.

Commenting on the announcement, Yingli Green Energy's Chairman and CEO, Liansheng Miao, said: "We believe this expansion will allow us to meet the increasing demand for our bankable, cost-effective products and further drive down costs through increased cell conversion efficiency and the larger scale of manufacturing. On the Project PANDA pilot line, we have already successfully produced next-generation cells with an average efficiency rate of 18% or higher. Looking ahead, we expect to increase the average efficiency rate to at least 18.5% on the commercial production lines by the end of this year. Combined with the existing 600 MW production capacity in Baoding and the 100 MW capacity under construction in Hainan Province, this new expansion project is expected to bring our total production capacity to 1 GW by the end of 2010. With this expansion in place, we will be better positioned than ever to solidify our leadership in the global PV market."

[source: Yingli Green Energy]