Solar

QCells plans ‘complete’ silicon-based solar supply chain in the U.S.

QCells plans ‘complete’ silicon-based solar supply chain in the U.S.
(Hanwha QCells plans what it said would be a 'complete' silicon-based supply chain in the U.S.)

Qcells said it plans to invest more than $2.5 billion to build what it said would be a complete silicon-based solar supply chain in the United States. 

The Korea-based company said it plans to break ground in Georgia during the first quarter on a facility to manufacture 3.3 GW of solar ingots, wafers, cells, and finished panels. 

The company said it also plans to assemble an additional 2 GW of solar panels at its Dalton, Georgia facility. The investment is expected to bring Qcells’ total solar panel production capacity in Georgia to 8.4 GW by 2024.

QCells’ parent company, Hanwha, recently became the leading shareholder in polysilicon producer REC Silicon. It said efforts are underway to manufacture polysilicon at the Norway-headquartered company’s factory in Moses Lake, Washington. That facility is slated to restart production in the second half of 2023.

QCells uses passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) technology, which allows for the passivation of the solar cell’s rear side by installing a reflective layer designed to direct sunlight back into the cell where it can be converted into electricity.

The company opened its first factory in Georgia to manufacture 1.7 GW of solar. In 2022, it announced plans to add 1.4 GW to its manufacturing output. 

Qcells said its investments follow passage last fall of the Solar Energy Manufacturing for America Act within the Inflation Reduction Act. 

“This new investment on the federal level is critical to providing certainty for investors to go bold on clean energy,” the company said in a statement. 

The investments are planned to occur at two sites with a greenfield expansion encompassing ingots, wafers, cells, and more modules. The site is in Cartersville, about 55 miles outside of Atlanta.

Spurring investment

At $369 billion, incentives for clean energy deployment and climate change mitigation made up nearly half of the Inflation Reduction Act. The package was signed into law by President Joe Biden on Aug. 16. In the months that followed, a U.S. clean energy manufacturing base began to take shape.

In addition to the QCells announcement, First Solar announced plans to invest up to $1 billion in a new 3.5 GW module factory in Alabama, while an additional $185 million will be dedicated to adding nearly 1 GW of new manufacturing capacity to the company’s facility in Ohio. Toledo Solar, meanwhile, said it would increase its domestic solar module manufacturing capacity to 2.8 GW by 2027.

In November, Enel North America announced plans to build a 3 GW solar cell and module manufacturing plant. Construction is expected to begin in the first half of 2023 with commercial operations beginning by the end of 2024. The facility was planned to have the ability to scale up to 6 GW of annual production capacity, the company said.

And on January 11, China-based JA Solar announced plans to establish a $60 million 2 GW production facility in Phoenix, its first in the U.S. The plant is expected to serve the residential, commercial, and utility-scale markets.

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