(Yicai Global) March 18 -- China's Shangji Automation has secured another revenue source as the firm expects to earn CNY4.3 billion (USD676.8 million) by selling solar cell materials to Shangrao Jietai New Energy Technology over the next three years.

Shangji and its unit penned an agreement with photovoltaic cell manufacturer Shangrao and its subsidiary to provide them with 648 million pieces of monocrystalline silicon till March 2025, the Wuxi-based PV equipment seller said in a statement yesterday.

The deal is worth CNY4.3 billion based on current market prices, but actual prices will be negotiated later.

The wafer manufacturer has been attracting more clients lately. Shangji and its unit penned a sales contract with three units of Shanghai-based PV cell firm Aiko Solar Energy last October, according to Shangji's statement from last week. It will sell 552 million pieces of monocrystalline silicon to Aiko from this year till 2024. That should result in CNY3.6 billion in revenue.

The latest deal will be spread over three years. Almost a fifth of the total volume of wafers will be delivered this year. Nearly 40 percent of all will be received by Shangrao between 2023 and 2024. The remainder of 40 million wafers will be sent in 2025.

Shangji has expanded its production capacity quickly amid the booming PV market. The annual capacity was more than doubled to about 30 gigawatts late last year from 12 GW in early 2021.

The wafer maker said last month that it intends to invest CNY11.8 billion (USD1.9 million) to build a new plant in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to produce 100,000 tons of high-purity crystalline silicon a year to meet growing demand for solar panel materials while mitigating pressures arising from rising raw material costs.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi