Don’t call it a comeback! For the first time in years, a company is making solar cells in the United States.
Suniva, which lays claim to the title of “oldest U.S. manufacturer of high-efficiency monocrystalline silicon solar cells,” recently restarted production at its Norcross, Georgia facility and has sent out the first shipments of its made-in-the-USA product to North American manufacturer Heliene.
Matt Card, Suniva’s president and chief operating officer, celebrated what he called “a historic milestone” on LinkedIn.
“Suniva has fulfilled its promise to bring back solar cell manufacturing to the United States! America’s oldest and largest solar cell manufacturer is producing,” he wrote.
Suniva had been inoperative since 2017 when the company filed for bankruptcy, but bolstered by Inflation Reduction Act incentives, announced plans to give it another go last fall. The cells manufactured at the Norcross facility are the first to qualify for the 10% Domestic Content Bonus Investment Tax Credit under the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s guidance published in May 2023. The company wants to ramp up production to produce about 1 gigawatt (GW) of cells per year.
In May, Heliene signed a $400 million, three-year sourcing contract to incorporate Suniva’s U.S.-made solar cells into its U.S.-made solar modules. The company has a facility in Ontario, Canada, and a growing footprint in Minnesota. Suniva was Heliene’s cell supplier from 2010-2014.
“We have known each other for a long time,” Martin Pochtaruk, CEO of Heliene told Renewable Energy World. “We have had a great business relationship for long enough that we understand each other without the need for words.”
Making solar cells in the United States has long been a boutique option at best due to drastically cheaper availability via overseas imports, particularly from Southeast Asia. China dominates the global manufacturing of polysilicon and wafers, accounting for 93% of polysilicon capacity and 95% of wafer capacity. However, tariffs, ongoing anti-dumping/countervailing duties investigations, and IRA incentives have begun to sow the seeds of domestic production returning. According to energy research firm Wood Mackenzie, there is about 10 gigawatts (GW) of cell capacity under construction, including QCells’ Cartersville, Georgia fully integrated facility, set to be the largest solar ingot and wafer plant ever built in the U.S.
Even still, according to a recent BloombergNEF analysis, the global price for solar panels is about $0.11 per watt- impossible to compete with domestically (at least right now). Some Chinese models are selling for under $.03/W, while the most competitive U.S. offerings are lucky to be on the underside of $.30/W. Energy price reporting agency OPIS assessed the U.S. mono PERC Q4 delivery module prices at $0.249/W, with indications between $0.215/W to $0.310/W. A readily available domestic content-eligible cell may very well bring those prices down further, but some industry leaders don’t expect that to be a reality until late 2026 or early 2027.
According to Pochtaruk, Heliene’s crystalline solar PV modules are now completely made in the United States outside of glass and ribbon.
“The only way that we’re able to compete face-to-face with imports is because we are cautious and we control our costs,” he explained in a previous interview with Renewable Energy World.
