Posted at 11:08 a.m., Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Hoku Scientific to begin making solar modules
Advertiser Staff
Hoku Scientific Inc., the Kapolei-based designer and developer of fuel cell membranes, announced today that it plans to raise $250 million to diversify its product offerings by manufacturing and selling solar modules."Our plans to enter the solar power market represents the logical extension of our business as a provider of clean energy technologies, and complements our core fuel cell business," said Dustin Shindo, chairman of the board of directors, president and chief executive officer of Hoku Scientific.
Hoku said it intends to operate the solar module business as a separate business under the name "Hoku Solar." The company said it is considering basing its manufacturing operations in Singapore.
Hoku Solar plans to enter the market through the manufacture and sale of polysilicon-based photovoltaic modules, with planned initial manufacturing capacity of 30 megawatts per year beginning in the second half of calendar year 2007. The company also plans to build a polysilicon processing plant designed to initially produce up to 1,500 metric tons of polysilicon per year, beginning in the second half of calendar year 2008.
