Chinese solar manufacturer Aiko Solar plans to convert its PERC cell factory in Tianjin into 6 GW of its proprietary all-back-contact (ABC) cell capacity, according to a filing with the Shanghai Stock Exchange reported by pv magazine. The move is one more sign that the cell technology which dominated global solar production for most of the past decade is being retired.
The plan
Rather than build a new factory, Aiko will use the existing PERC plant as the production workshop. The project adds new process equipment and upgrades the supporting power supply and auxiliary facilities.
Total investment is estimated at CNY 1.15 billion, or about $172.2 million. Of that, CNY 1.131 billion is earmarked for fixed assets and CNY 19 million for initial and working capital. Aiko says the money will come from its own funds, financial institutions and partners in its industry ecosystem.
The upgrade is scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of 2026, with production entering service gradually from the third quarter of 2027.
Why PERC is running out of road
Aiko's board was direct about the reason. According to the filing, current p-type PERC cell mass production efficiency has "reached a bottleneck", while market demand is declining, prices are falling and the cells face the risk of rapid obsolescence.
PERC, short for passivated emitter and rear contact, was built out on a huge scale in China during the last expansion cycle. Most of the industry has since moved to n-type designs such as TOPCon and back-contact cells. PERC lines that are not upgraded risk becoming stranded assets.
What ABC cells change
Aiko's ABC cells use n-type technology and move all of the electrical grid lines and busbars from the front surface to the rear of the cell. With no metal on the front, more light reaches the active silicon and the panel looks cleaner. Aiko says the design is aimed especially at rooftop and distributed PV, where output per square metre and appearance matter most.
The company has been extending the platform this year. In July it introduced its G4 Infinite Ultra ABC module, taking the product line into the 690 W power class.
A pattern of conversions
Tianjin is not the first Aiko site to be retooled. In April the company announced plans to convert 5 GW of PERC capacity at its Yiwu base and 6 GW of TOPCon capacity at its Chuzhou base to ABC, with a combined investment of RMB 1.665 billion. At the same time it dropped earlier plans to switch those lines to TOPCon, putting its full weight behind back-contact cells.
Converting existing buildings, grid connections and trained staff is cheaper and faster than building new plants. That matters while the industry is still working through overcapacity and thin margins.
What it means
For buyers in Asia-Pacific and beyond, the Tianjin conversion is another signal that PERC modules will become harder to source over the next two years, and that back-contact and other n-type products will take a larger share of supply. Developers should plan around higher-efficiency modules with different electrical characteristics and check warranty and bankability data for newer cell types. For the manufacturing sector, it shows that the next phase of China's solar industry is about upgrading existing capacity rather than adding more of it.
Source: pv magazine, citing a filing by Aiko Solar with the Shanghai Stock Exchange; earlier conversion plans reported by EnergyTrend.
