Skinny-film photo voltaic producer First Photo voltaic will make investments as much as US$1.2 billion to broaden its manufacturing operations within the US, together with establishing a vertically built-in manufacturing facility within the nation’s Southeast with an annual capability of three.5GWdc.
The US-headquartered firm plans to speculate as much as US$1 billion within the new manufacturing facility – its fourth within the nation – which is anticipated to start operations in 2025.
First Photo voltaic can even make investments US$185 million in upgrading and increasing its manufacturing footprint in Ohio, the place it has two working amenities and is at present ramping up a 3rd.
Mark Widmar, CEO at First Photo voltaic, stated that in passing the Inflation Discount Act (IRA), Congress and the Biden-Harris Administration have “entrusted our business with the duty of enabling America’s clear vitality future and we should meet the second in a fashion that’s each well timed and sustainable”.
He added: “This funding is a vital step in direction of reaching self-sufficiency in photo voltaic know-how, which, in flip, helps America’s vitality safety ambitions, its deployment of photo voltaic at scale, and its capability to guide with innovation.”
Signed into regulation by President Joe Biden earlier this month, the IRA features a US$0.07/Wdc manufacturing tax credit score for photo voltaic modules. Different PV elements eligible for manufacturing credit embody cells, wafers, backsheets, polysilicon, inverters and trackers.
Latest weeks have seen a spike in US photo voltaic manufacturing bulletins, with Meyer Burger securing a long-term deal to produce at the least 3.75GW of US-made modules, SPI Vitality revealing plans to start producing wafers and REC Silicon saying its efforts to restart operations at its Moses Lake polysilicon manufacturing facility are underpinned by the IRA.
US-based tracker producers, in the meantime, informed PV Tech Premium they’re planning to ramp up manufacturing within the nation on the again of provisions included within the IRA.
Alongside setting up the brand new manufacturing facility within the Southeast, First Photo voltaic will broaden its two working amenities in Perrysburg and Lake Township, Ohio, by 600MWdc to three.6GWdc of annual Sequence 6 module capability.
It is going to additionally broaden its third Ohio manufacturing facility, resulting from be commissioned within the first half of 2023, to three.5GWdc of annual Sequence 7 module capability.
The brand new investments are forecast to extend First Photo voltaic’s US module manufacturing capability to greater than 10GWdc by 2025.
The corporate additionally operates factories in Vietnam and Malaysia and is establishing a 3.3GWdc plant in India that’s set to be commissioned within the second half of 2023.
On completion of its US and India enlargement plans, First Photo voltaic expects to have greater than 20GWdc of annual international manufacturing capability in 2025.
