Vertically integrated solar manufacturing partnership based in Washington securing a self-reliant solar manufacturing industry
Moses Lake, WA (October 13, 2020) – Today REC Silicon ASA (REC Silicon), a leading producer of advanced silicon materials and Violet Energy, Inc., doing business as Violet Power, announced their partnership to create an integrated domestic solar manufacturing supply chain that will serve to revitalize and accelerate self-reliance in meeting clean energy goals for electric utility services. The two Washington headquartered companies will establish a silicon ingot and wafer solution for Violet Power’s immediate solar cell manufacturing requirements which, following the restart of the plant sited in Moses Lake, will utilize REC’s hyper-pure silicon feedstock materials. REC Silicon and Violet Power will also work to expand domestic capacity for production of input materials necessary for other cyber-secure clean energy solutions utilizing green energy to create sustainable, responsibly produced and highly competitive products for domestic applications.
“We welcome Violet Power to Washington and look forward to a close collaboration in building the comprehensive silicon-based supply chain for high technology solutions in the United States. The U.S. represents one of the largest and fastest growing solar installation markets in the world, creating huge opportunity for high tech domestic manufacturing. We applaud Violet Power for its leadership in entering the market at this critical time. Our collaboration will create hundreds of direct jobs and multiply the indirect jobs linked with solar, battery storage and semi-conductor applications” said Tore Torvund, CEO and President of REC Silicon.
REC Silicon has already invested over $1.7Billion in Washington, in a unique plant employing its proprietary silane gas-based fluidized bed reactor for granular polysilicon. Violet Power is building a state-of-the-art facility, co-located with REC’s existing Moses Lake plant to manufacture solar cells and modules, adding ingot and wafer production in time. Violet Power’s initial cell production will begin sampling in the second quarter of 2021 with 500 MW of solar cells, reaching 1GW of capacity by 2022 and scaling to 5GW over the next five years.
“It is time to re-shore solar manufacturing to the United States. Our goal is to re-start, and re-vitalize U.S. manufacturing, bringing critical energy security and resiliency to the U.S. REC Silicon is therefore a natural partner given its long-standing technology leadership. This partnership secures domestic supply chain self-reliance and is the springboard for tremendous new job creation. The time is now,” said Desari Strader, Violet Energy’s Chairwoman and Founder.
For further information, please contact:
REC Silicon
Francine Sullivan
Vice President Business Development
Phone: +15097501133
francine.sullivan@recsilicon.com
Violet Power
Greg Stanko
Phone: +1301 938 9794
Email: gregs@violetpower.com
About REC Silicon
REC Silicon is a leading producer of advanced silicon materials, delivering high-purity polysilicon and silicon gas to the solar and electronics industries worldwide. We combine over 30 years of experience and proprietary technology with the needs of our customers, with annual production capacity of more than 20,000 MT of polysilicon from our two US-based manufacturing plants. Listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (ticker: REC), the Company is headquartered in Lysaker, Norway.
For more information, go to: www.recsilicon.com
About Violet Power
Violet Power is the only U.S. solar producer to secure the capability to span the full value chain, from hyper-pure silicon to photovoltaic power panels maximizing long-term energy generation, resilience, and delivering the lowest Levelized Cost of Energy.
This information is subject to disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.