The facility, which is being hailed as the largest of its kind in Brazil, is capable of producing  380MW of PV modules annually.

Canadian Solar invested about $24m on the development of the plant, which will be operated by electronics subcontractor Flextronics International.

Canadian Solar chairman and CEO Shawn Qu said: “Our new state-of-the-art facility is already having a positive impact on Brazil's economy through the jobs created, investment made in the local economy, and our help in the promotion and further development of the country's renewable energy industry. 

The company's existing solar project portfolio in Brazil has now reached 390 MWp, of which EDF EN do Brazil bought 80% of the equity interest of its 191MW Pirapora I project, which is anticipated to start operations in the third quaretr of 2017. 

Qu said: “We now gain a powerful competitive advantage with our new local content facility, which we will leverage in Brazil, one of the world's most attractive and fastest growing solar markets."  

Sao Paulo governor Geraldo Alckim was quoted by PV Magazine as saying: “Brazil is now a year out of the crisis, and one of the development strategies for the future is solar energy. A considerable part of the Brazilian solar industry is concentrated in Sao Paulo.”

As of September this year, Canadian Solar’s total portfolio around the world was about 2GWp of utility-scale projects in pipeline. Its operational projects were about 948MWp.

Image: Canadian Solar starts production at the new Brazilian plant. Photo: Courtesy of franky242/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.