QCells Completes Georgia Solar Panel Plant Project, More on the Way

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA), many companies have expressed interest in establishing or expanding U.S. manufacturing operations for solar panels. Incentivized by the legislation, companies like Hanwha QCells (Seoul, South Korea) and First Solar Incorporated (NASDAQ:FSLR) (Tempe, Arizona) are establishing large plants to manufacture solar panels throughout the U.S. QCells recently completed the expansion of a panel manufacturing plant in Dalton, Georgia, and is preparing to open another plant nearby, while other solar companies work to establish their own U.S. manufacturing bases.

Earlier this week, QCells announced that it had completed the expansion of its plant in Dalton, Georgia, claiming it to be "largest manufacturing plant of its kind in the western hemisphere," and one of the first U.S. solar panel sites to be completed since the passage of the IRA. The factory originally opened in 2019, and this is its third expansion. The expansion raises the facility's production capacity by 2 gigawatts (GW) of panels per year, increasing the facility's total output to 5.1 GW. Two new panels will be assembled there: a residential panel and a bifacial panel for commercial use. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Industrial Manufacturing Project Database can click here for more information.

According to news media, the IRA provides QCells' Dalton plant 7 cents per watt for every panel it makes, or $41.30 for each 590-watt solar panel made.

The Dalton facility manufactures panels from solar cells that have been imported from Asia. But QCells is expanding its vertical reach in the U.S. sector through the construction of another plant in nearby Cartersville, Georgia, that will use polysilicon refined in Washington state to manufacture the polysilicon ingots, wafers and solar cells that will be used to manufacture 3.3 GW per year of solar panels. The IRA provides incentives for the refining of polysilicon as well as the manufacture of ingots, wafers and panels.

Construction on the Cartersville plant kicked off earlier this year, with Gray Construction (Lexington, Kentucky) acting as the design-build contractor. The plant is expected to be completed next year when it will begin ramping up to its full production capacity of 3.3 GW of panels per year. Subscribers can click here for more details.

While Hanwha QCells is headquartered in South Korea, a U.S.-based solar panel company also has kicked its construction activity into gear this year. First Solar has broken ground on two manufacturing sites in 2023. This summer, First Solar began work on a 2.4 million-square-foot facility in Trinity, Alabama, that will manufacture 3.5 GW of panels annually. The plant is expected to be finished in mid-2025. Click here for the project report.

Just last month in New Iberia, Louisiana, First Solar broke ground on what will be a similar plant, encompassing more than 2 million square feet and manufacturing 3.5 GW per year of the company's Series 7 solar panels. The plant is expected to begin operations in 2026. Subscribers can click here for more information.

Other panel manufacturers also have plans for U.S. plants. Vikram Group (Rajasthan, India) plans to break ground early next year on a grassroot plant in Brighton, Colorado, on the northeastern outskirts of Denver. M.A. Mortenson Company (Minneapolis, Minnesota) will manage the construction of the 1.7 million-square-foot facility, with an aim to complete it in the first half of 2025. Upon completion, the plant will be able to manufacture 2 GW of panels per year. Subscribers can click here for more details.

Other projects also are planned for next year. 3Sun USA LLC (Andover, Massachusetts), a subsidiary of Enel Green Power (Rome, Italy), is aiming to expand its manufacturing capacity and has plans to construct a plant in Inola, Oklahoma, to manufacture 3 GW of bifacial panels per year. The project is expected to break ground next year.

3Sun is aiming for 10 GW of solar panels annually and already has tentative plans in place to expand the Oklahoma plant to 6 GW of panels annually, potentially kicking off operations in 2027. Subscribers can learn more by viewing the reports on the grassroot project and the proposed expansion.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Industrial Manufacturing Database can click here to view reports for all of the projects discussed in this article and click here for the related plant profiles.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).