First Solar spending US$1.2b on US plants after Climate Law

FIRST Solar, America’s biggest panel maker, plans to invest about US$1.2 billion in new and expanded US manufacturing after Congress passed a landmark Climate Bill.

The company expects to choose a site in the US Southeast for a new 3.5-gigawatt facility and expand its factories in Ohio by about 900 megawatts, it said in a statement on Tuesday (Aug 30).

Three Southeast states are contenders for the new plant, with operations in 2025, according to chief executive officer Mark Widmar.

While solar has surged into the US mainstream, the country sources most of its panels from Asia – a reliance that’s threatened projects amid trade tensions and a crush of supply-chain obstacles. The new US climate law provides support for both domestic manufacturing, which is expected to spur new cleantech factories, and installations.

“We have never before had any sort of legislation or commitment to grow the entire sector all at the same time,” Samantha Sloan, First Solar’s vice president of global policy, sustainability and marketing, said in an interview. “It is a first step towards really investing in all shapes of clean-energy sectors that’s going to drive investment at every stage.”

The decision to expand US manufacturers is a turnaround for First Solar, which in June said it opted against doing so amid trade and policy uncertainty. President Joe Biden signed the climate law earlier this month.

“We are prioritising the US market,” Widmar said. BLOOMBERG