Overview
- Suniva, which announced the $350 million project Tuesday, plans a 4.5 GW solar cell factory in Laurens, South Carolina, scheduled to start operations in the second quarter of 2027.
- Combined output from the new site and Suniva’s Georgia facility would reach about 5.5 GW a year, positioning the company as the largest U.S. silicon solar cell manufacturer.
- The company says demand is being driven by Inflation Reduction Act incentives and tighter Foreign Entity of Concern rules, with SEIA data showing about 3.2 GW of domestic cell capacity versus roughly 60 GW of U.S. module assembly.
- The 620,000-square-foot Laurens facility is expected to create 564 full-time jobs in advanced manufacturing, adding a new anchor for South Carolina’s growing clean-energy industry.
- President Matt Card said much of the factory’s output through 2030 is already pre-sold, and as a merchant supplier Suniva will sell cells to third-party module makers seeking to qualify for the IRA domestic-content bonus credit.