Sinovoltaics has launched the solar industry’s first virtual photovoltaic (PV) factory tour platform, providing professionals worldwide with direct digital access to leading manufacturing facilities and eliminating the cost, emissions, and logistical challenges associated with international travel.
The platform’s initial offerings include virtual tours of Tongwei Solar’s 25 GW manufacturing facility in Yancheng—one of the world’s largest PV production plants—and JA Solar’s manufacturing operations in Yangzhou Park. Both tours are now publicly available, with plans to expand the platform to include battery energy storage system (BESS) manufacturing sites globally.
Arthur Claire, Director of Technology at Sinovoltaics, said the initiative aims to democratize access to manufacturing knowledge and improve supply-chain transparency across the solar industry. He noted that virtual access enables broader participation while significantly reducing the environmental footprint associated with factory audits and site visits.
Ahead of the launch, Sinovoltaics surveyed its clients and found that 80% had never visited a solar manufacturing facility, while 89% expressed strong interest but cited time and financial constraints as key barriers. Within two hours of the platform’s launch, more than 200 professionals from across Europe had joined the waiting list, indicating strong market demand.
Sinovoltaics highlighted the platform’s sustainability impact, estimating that avoiding international travel for the first 200 participants alone could save approximately 432 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, based on typical round-trip flight emissions between Europe and China.
The virtual tours provide detailed insights into production processes that are typically inaccessible to visitors, including lamination lines, curing rooms, quality-control checkpoints, and defect inspection zones. According to the company, this level of visibility can help engineers, quality managers, and procurement teams improve purchasing decisions and strengthen quality assurance practices.
A Tongwei Solar spokesperson said the partnership supports greater industry transparency by offering global professionals a closer look at the company’s large-scale and high-precision manufacturing operations. Similarly, JA Solar President Aiqing Yang said virtual factory access enhances technical understanding, supports more rigorous procurement standards, and contributes to a more resilient and transparent global PV supply chain.
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