Trina Solar is a Chinese manufacturer of silicon solar panels. The company has primarily sold its panels to customers in Germany, Spain and Italy, and in March of 2008 received approval to sell its products in the US market. At the end of 2007, TSL had the facilities to produce 150 MW of solar panels per year, and says it plants to double its capacity in 2008 and again in 2009. This would give TSL an annual capacity of 600 MW.^[1] By the end of 2007, TSL had average conversion efficiencies that were slightly above the industy average of 15%.^[2] The company's solar cells had conversion efficiencies of 16.6% for its monocrystalline solar cells and 15.3% for those made from polycrystalline silicon.^[3]

With the growing concern over global warming, solar and other forms of renewable energy have received support in the form of government tax breaks and subsidies to make the technologies more competitive. Countries such as Germany and Spain pay a subsidy for every kWh of energy produced, while the US favors a system based on utility regulation and consumer tax incentives. The solar PV market has been hampered by silicon shortages as a majority of PV systems use purified silicon for their products - and Trina is no different. Despite thin-film technologies having an average conversion efficiency that is 9% lower than silicon PV, with the silicon crunch and lower production costs, they are a growing force in the PV market.^[4] Fortunately for Trina, silicon shortages look to be nearing an end with suppliers ramping up production and completing new facilities to supply the market. TSL has been an established provider in the international solar market, and with the approval from Underwriters Laboratories looks to compete with the established suppliers in the growing US market, First Solar, Suntech Power Holdings, and SunPower.

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