New PV factories March, 2010: On Dec. 21, 2009, Moncada Solar Equipment Srl opened its factory for thin-film silicon modules in the Sicilian community of Campofranco. © Marcello Paternostro / photon-pictures.com  Salvatore Moncada’s module factory is producing Italy’s first thin-film modules. The 40 MW production line was supplied by Applied Materials Inc. The parent company, Moncada Energy Group, invested €85 million ($122.1 million) in the factory. The modules will be sold to its subsidiary Costruzioni Moncada Srl, a project developer, which will build solar parks for another Moncada subsidiary, M&A Rinnovabili Srl. Moncada expects to have an annual production capacity of 15 MW in 2010, which is enough for half of the company’s planned new installations this year. While the factory was being built, Moncada signed a module supply contract with Signet Solar Inc., which also uses Applied equipment in its factory. Since its founding in 2009, Costruzioni Moncada has connected 3 MW of power to the grid in Italy. Neelke Wagner © PHOTON International, March 2010 Duplicate only with allowance of PHOTON Europe GmbH, Aachen, Germany  back