Dive Brief:
- Crystalline silicon solar cell manufacturer Qcells is set to receive up to $1.45 billion in an Energy Department loan guarantee, the agency announced Thursday.
- The money will go towards the South Korea-based company's upcoming solar component factory in Cartersville, Georgia.
- Qcells first announced the plant in January 2023, with plans to begin operations at what the agency says will be the country’s largest ingot and wafer plant, two critical solar panel components, later this year.
Dive Insight:
The Biden administration has been pushing to onshore more of the solar panel supply chain since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act.
The law includes multiple tax credit options for solar manufacturers that establish facilities in the U.S., which has helped entice companies like Enel and First Solar to establish $1 billion domestic factories.
Energy Department direct funding and loans have become another key aspect of the solar supply chain onshoring strategy. In May, the agency announced $71 million in funding for domestic solar manufacturing, similar to $45 million in funding rolled out in 2023 for solar component production.
Qcells' factory, its second in both the U.S. and Georgia, aims to plug a gap in the supply chain for silicon-based components. The facility is expected to create 1,950 jobs and slated to produce 3.3 gigawatts of solar panels per year, enough to power half a million homes.
The company's two Georgia factories will produce a combined 8.4 GW of solar panels by years' end, according to Qcells.
The solar panel maker has been expanding its U.S. production capacity in recent months. Its Cartersville plant is part of a now $2.8 billion investment in its U.S. solar supply chain, including the expansion of its Dalton, Georgia, factory in October.
The upcoming site will also be home to an expanded supply deal with Microsoft, in which Qcells will produce 12 GW of solar modules and engineering, procurement and construction services over eight years.
“By the end of this year, Qcells will produce the full solar supply chain, from ingot to finished panel, all under one roof in Georgia,” the company said in a statement. “We have made such ambitious investments because we believe onshoring solar manufacturing is key to building a sustainable, secure and independent energy future in the U.S.”
