DuPont invests a further US$175 million to complete Tedlar production line

DuPont has announced an additional investment of US$175 million to complete the multiphase expansion of its Tedlar PV2001 series oriented film production line.

The company previously announced an investment of US$120 million in capacity expansions in August 2009 for raw materials used to make the film. This brings the total investment to US$295 million.

The film line expansion will be located at the DuPont Circleville, OH, facility using existing and retrofitted assets. This expansion provides the capacity to support global demand of over 10GW of PV module production. Film production is scheduled to start up in September 2011.

"The photovoltaic market increasingly demands materials that enable modules to reliably deliver power for decades," said David B. Miller, president of DuPont Electronics and Communications. "This major expansion underscores our commitment to maintaining DuPont leadership in the photovoltaic industry and specifically in the backsheet materials market for solar panels."

DuPont also plans to increase monomer and polymer resin capacity by more than 50%. Construction is under way for the new monomer and resin facilities at the DuPont Louisville, KY, and Fayetteville, NC, sites, respectively. Both facilities are scheduled to start up in mid-2010.