HUNTSVILLE, AL—Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced last Wednesday that LG Electronics will establish a new factory at the company’s existing site here.The Associated Press reports that the project will add 160 jobs, bringing the total workforce at the site to 400. LG Electronics is investing $28 million in the facility.
In a statement, Ivey said it will be the state’s first solar manufacturing plant and is “a major milestone both for Alabama and for the company.”
The new factory will assemble LG’s “Neon 2” series 60-cell modules, which are high-performance solar panels. The factory is expected to produce 500 megawatts of the company’s high-performance N-type solar panels annually, starting in early 2019.
This plant continues LG’s presence in Huntsville. After starting the company’s first U.S. manufacturing subsidiary in 1981, the city became the home of LG’s service division in 1987. It has greatly expanded over the years.