SolarOne, which is based in China but controlled by Korea’s Hanwha Chemical, is attempting to climb into the module industry’s highest tier, with plans to add 500MW of capacity during the second half of the year – bringing its total to 2GW.

Yet compared to larger tier-one rivals, the company remains heavily dependent on a single market – Japan – and engages in a significant amount of module processing for other module suppliers.

SolarOne’s