Looking to cash in on the growing demand for American-made solar products, SPI Energy plans to bring wafer manufacturing to South Carolina.
SPI Energy, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries SEM Wafertech and Solar4America, intends to invest $65.9 million in Sumter County manufacturing facility that will create 300 new jobs, the company said. The site is east of the Palmetto State's capitol, Columbia.
SPI Energy plans to produce the first wafers at the new facility by the end of 2023 with production capacity ramping to 3 GW by 2024.
“As a global renewable energy company making American-made solar wafers and modules, we recognize the importance of having a strong domestic supply chain to meet the fast-growing demand for affordable solar power," said Denton Peng, chairman of SEM Wafertech and Solar4America. "We plan to bring the highest-quality domestically produced solar wafers and modules to market, enhancing our nation’s manufacturing capabilities with a long-term investment that will create good paying jobs for South Carolina.”
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SEM Wafertech and Solar4America plan to occupy an existing building where they will design, build out and install a silicon wafer slicing facility.
Silicon wafers produced in the facility will be used in a variety of applications, including photovoltaic cells and semiconductors. Solar panels will serve commercial, residential and industrial energy generation and storage needs.
Last year, SPI Energy announced plans to secure 1.5 GW of solar wafer manufacturing equipment.
Neither the equipment provider nor the dollar value of the deal were disclosed at the time. But SPI Energy did share its intension to increase its solar wafer manufacturing capacity to 3 GW by 2024, the same target outlined in the South Carolina facility announcement.
In its announcement, the company cited the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 which created incentives for companies to produce solar wafers and solar modules in the United States. Solar wafer manufacturer will receive $12 per square meter of each solar wafer it produces.
The renewable energy company and provider of solar storage and electric vehicle solutions was founded in 2006 in Roseville, Calif., and is headquartered in McClellan Park, Calif.
The company operates across three divisions: SolarJuice solar wholesale distribution, residential solar and roofing installation, and solar module manufacturing, the SPI Solar and Orange Power commercial & utility solar division, and the EdisonFuture/Phoenix Motor EV division.
