Hanwha Qcells, a major module manufacturer, has completed expansion work at its solar module production plant in Dalton, Georgia, increasing the facility’s total capacity to 5.1GW.
The project took place into two phases. The first involved expanding the plant’s manufacturing capacity by 2GW, with the facility now capable of producing 30,000 panels each day. The second is to allow the plant to develop two new solar products: the Q TRON G2 residential panel, a new solar module geared for use in home markets, and a bifacial panel that Qcells intends to employ in commercial and utility markets.
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The Georgia expansion comes after Qcells announced a US$2.5 billion investment in its US facilities in January of this year. A part of this investment will also be used to build a new materials production facility in Cartersville, Georgia. The Cartersville project, together with the Dalton site, will be the cornerstone of the company’s development into the US solar industry, according to the company’s plans.
The announcement comes on the heels of Suniva, a US cell maker, announcing the restart of operations at a cell production plant in the state, as the global solar industry turns to Georgia to locate new manufacturing capacity and expand current facilities.
Both the federal government of the United States and the state government of Georgia have established themselves as welcoming of new solar manufacturing facilities, with financial incentives available for developers locating facilities in the southern state, and the continued growth of solar facilities in Georgia could demonstrate the efficacy of such government support for the solar sector.
Completing this plant represents the third expansion we’ve done in Dalton, and it’s just the beginning of Qcells’ wider aim to develop a fully integrated solar supply chain in America’, Justin Lee, CEO of Qcells, said in a statement.
