On the one-year anniversary since announcing its $2.5 billion investment to onshore solar manufacturing, Qcells North America is on track to meet projected timeline
ATLANTA – Jan. 11, 2024 – Qcells, a leading provider of complete clean energy solutions, today is celebrating the one-year anniversary of its announcement to expand its solar panel assembly output and build the nation’s only complete and sustainable solar supply chain, the largest investment in U.S. solar history to date. Qcells made a commitment to invest more than $2.5 billion to build a fully integrated, silicon-based solar supply chain in the U.S. from raw material to finished module with full production expected by the end of the year. The investment also included an expansion of the current facility in Dalton, Georgia, which was completed last year.
At the one-year mark, Qcells is on track to accelerate the clean energy transition in the U.S. In October 2023, Qcells announced the completed expansion of its Dalton, Georgia, factory. Qcells added 2 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity to Dalton, bringing the full factory’s output to more than 5.1 GW and adding 510 additional solar factory jobs.
Qcells’ solar supply chain factory in Cartersville, Georgia, will be completed by the end of this year, with module production on target to begin in April and the production of ingots, wafer and cells by the end of the year. The fully automated factory will bring Qcells’ annual module production capacity to 8.4 GW, which is nearly 46,000 panels a day and enough to power 1.3 million homes annually.
With both facilities operating at full capacity, Qcells’ total employment in Georgia will reach 4,000 jobs for the high-tech industry strengthening Georgia’s position as a manufacturing hub and leader in solar innovation.
“As we hit the one-year anniversary since announcing our investment in Georgia, we are pleased with the progress we have made on our mission to onshore the solar supply chain and offer completely clean energy solutions to millions of American consumers,” said Danny O’Brien, President of Corporate Affairs at Qcells. “The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and the support from the state of Georgia have been crucial to our success. We look forward to continuing to work with leaders from Georgia to Washington in advancing solar manufacturing’s role in our country’s energy transition.”
“One year ago, we announced a generational project that our state had spent years working alongside local and private sector partners to secure: the transformative Qcells investment bringing thousands of jobs to the people of Whitfield and Bartow Counties,” said Governor Brian Kemp. “As the No. 1 state for business, Georgia prides itself on the factors like our world-class infrastructure, award-winning relationship building, and low cost of doing business that set us apart from competitors as an ideal destination for projects such as the multiple Qcells facilities constructed since 2019. We look forward to the continued success of this partnership and the results it will yield for the families of Dalton and Cartersville.”
“I join the Qcells team in celebrating this historic anniversary,” U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff said. “When we wrote and passed the Solar Energy Manufacturing for America Act into law, it was with this goal in mind. Together, we will continue making Georgia the advanced energy capital of the nation.”
“One year ago, Qcells made history with their landmark multi-billion dollar investment in Georgia’s clean energy economy. With solar energy production growing across our state, Georgia is continuing to reap the benefits of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act,” said U.S. Senator Reverend Warnock. “By bringing hundreds of jobs to our state in the process, Qcells is proving that we do not have to choose between addressing climate change and growing our economy. I look forward to continuing to partner with Qcells as Georgia becomes the premier destination for America’s clean energy manufacturers.”
“We join our fellow Georgians in celebrating the one-year anniversary of Qcell’s Cartersville plant, and look forward to it being a premier destination for jobs in our state,” said U.S. Congressman Barry Loudermilk (GA-11). “Additionally, Microsoft’s historic collaboration with Qcells is critical to establishing a U.S.-made solar supply chain to compete with China and reduce our reliance on overseas-made products. This deal is a major win for the country and will help power 1.8 million homes, made possible by efforts in Cartersville. I’m proud that we are, once again, paving the way for companies like Q-cells to continue investing and expanding in our state.”
Additional Investments
With the support of Qcells’ parent company, Hanwha Solutions, REC Silicon in Moses Lake, Washington, announced it has begun the process of producing polysilicon, the raw material in solar modules. Polysilicon produced by REC Silicon will be utilized by Qcells’ highly anticipated factory in Cartersville, Georgia, boosting Qcells’ efforts to build a fully integrated solar supply chain.
In addition to REC Silicon, Hanwha Advanced Materials Georgia (HAGA) will supply the first-of-its-kind Cartersville factory with encapsulant film ethyl vinyl acetate (EVA), the front foil on solar modules that ensures long-term panel durability and an important piece of the clean energy supply chain. HAGA will be the only company manufacturing EVA in the U.S. and will ensure Qcells receives a steady supply of the material.
