A Korean company has started production Huge new solar panel factory That’s despite industry leaders saying a surge in imports from Asia could dampen efforts to produce more solar modules in the United States.
Qcells, a unit of South Korea’s Hanwha Group, said on Wednesday it can now produce enough solar panels at a two-factory complex in the northwestern Georgia city of Dalton to generate 5.1 gigawatts of electricity annually. That accounts for almost 40% of U.S. solar panel production capacity, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.
Qcells opened its first factory in 2019 and has a larger factory Since the stagewhich the company calls the largest solar investment in U.S. history.
“This is another milestone in our efforts as a company to really become a global leader and a U.S. leader in solar manufacturing,” Scott Moskowitz, Qcells’ director of market strategy and public affairs, told The Associated Press in an interview after a factory tour on Monday.
The company said its new factory is the first U.S. solar module factory to begin production since President Joe Biden passed Sign climate legislation. Qcells’ $208M investment again shows how federal incentives can stimulate nationwide craze in the fields of renewable energy and electric vehicles.
The industry is unnerved by the influx of cheap solar panels from overseas, a sign of how dependent the solar industry remains on federal policy. That’s a threat, in part because former President Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination, is hostile to renewable energy.
Qcells leaders say the new factory demonstrates more efficient equipment and processes and is part of a larger investment to bring key steps in solar manufacturing to the United States. Solar panels or modules are assembled from solar cells, most commonly polycrystalline silicon made from wafers cut from silicon ingots.
Today, the company imports its solar cells from Asia. But 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of Dalton in Cartersville, Qcells is building a $2.3 billion complex to refine polycrystalline silicon and make ingots, wafers and solar cells in Washington state, in addition to Produces 3.3 GW of solar modules. The factory is scheduled to open in phases starting next year.
Currently, the U.S. does not produce silicon ingots or wafers, but Biden’s Inflation reduction methodIn addition to additional tax credits for U.S.-made solar equipment, manufacturers can earn incentives for each unit of polysilicon they refine and for each silicon wafer, cell and module they manufacture. For example, Qcells receives a tax credit of 7 cents per watt for each panel it produces in Dalton, or $34.30 for every 490 watts of residential panels produced.
Solar industry leaders warn that even with this boost, factories will struggle to compete with a new wave of cheap imports from Asia. They are again urging federal officials to investigate whether solar panels are being dumped at unfairly low prices.Previous investigations have resulted in anti-dumping duties On panels made in China and Taiwan.
Mike Carr, executive director of the American Solar Manufacturers Alliance, which includes Qcells, said U.S. officials should not view the spike as a normal market fluctuation.He thinks Chinese parts manufacturers are launching cheap modules From Southeast Asia factorypanel prices fell to ensure China’s dominance and suppress U.S. manufacturing.
“This is likely to become the number one new energy source in the 21st century,” Carr said. “It’s already cheaper to install than anything else. It’s the way to achieve our climate goals. So I think it becomes a real national security issue. Just like OPEC has done in the oil market, we don’t want China to Become the controller of solar power supply.”
Moskowitz said Qcells sees the current low prices as a “near-term challenge” to achieve economies of scale and serve the long-term market. In addition to trade policy, requiring federal agencies to buy U.S.-made products and promote panels with less carbon emissions could also boost Qcells, he said.
Politics loom over the solar industry. Vice President Kamala Harris visited the plant earlier this year. At the state level, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp Had with Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff has expressed support for the political credit flowing to Georgia for electric vehicle and renewable energy investments.
“Of all the places Qcells could have gone, they chose to operate and expand in Georgia because of our unparalleled assets and competitive package,” Kemp said in a statement.
Ossoff and Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., highlighted federal policy by pointing to incentives that would benefit Qcells.
“Our state is becoming the nation’s advanced energy capital thanks to federal infrastructure and manufacturing policies that have benefited Georgia more than any other state,” Ossoff said in a statement.
Qcells, for its part, praised state and federal aid.
“In order to establish these markets and make them work, a whole-of-government approach is needed,” Moskowitz said.
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