CARTERSVILLE, GA—South Korean solar energy company Qcells will invest $2.5 billion to expand its manufacturing capacity in the United States, creating as many as 2,500 jobs in Georgia.
The announcement is one of the biggest corporate manufacturing commitments since the passage of President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which includes more than $300 billion in subsidies to tackle climate change. Some of those incentives are aimed at boosting domestic manufacturing of clean energy products that are currently made primarily in China, such as solar cells and panels.
Qcells said it will expand its existing solar panel factory in Dalton, GA, and open a second factory in Cartersville. Production will begin there in 2024.
The new factory will make solar panel components, including silicon ingots, wafers and cells, as well as the modules themselves. Currently, most solar panels assembled in the United States use components made in Asia.