Hanwha Solutions Qcells institutional sector (hereinafter Qcells) has completed the cell production line at its Cartersville, Georgia, plant in the United States and will begin mass production in July. The solar hub is the only production base in the United States that vertically integrates the key solar cell value chain from ingots to wafers, cells, and modules.
Qcells on the 10th said it had completed its Cartersville plant in Georgia in the United States. By May, it had completed inspections of various utility facilities and production equipment needed for cell mass production and recently began trial runs. Starting in July, it plans to begin full-scale mass production of U.S.-made modules using cells manufactured at the Cartersville plant.
Qcells' production capacity in the United States is 3.3 GW (gigawatts) each for ingots, wafers, and cells, and 8.6 GW for modules. This is the largest among solar manufacturers in North America that make silicon cell-based modules.
The company said, "The completion of the solar hub is important not just for expanding production capacity, but for maximizing policy benefits from building a solar manufacturing value chain in the United States," and added, "We expect profitability to improve further by additionally receiving AMPC for the cells and wafers manufactured at the Cartersville plant."
It will also upgrade product production lines every year and produce high-efficiency products. The amount received is also likely to continue increasing. Qcells' AMPC receipts this year are expected to be $675 million (about 1 trillion won). When all production lines at the Cartersville plant are fully operational in 2027, they are expected to rise to $879 million in 2028 to $929 million, and to $1.1 billion in 2029.
As the share of U.S.-made parts increases, it is expected to enjoy a premium effect in the U.S. market, which favors domestic products. Under the investment tax credit (ITC) in the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), power project operators that meet the additional domestic product benefit requirements receive an additional tax credit equivalent to 10% of the total investment.
At this time, whether U.S.-made cells are used is regarded as a key strategy for meeting the requirements. U.S.-made modules applying ingots, wafers, and cells produced at the Cartersville plant have high customer preference. Accordingly, there is a possibility that a premium will form on prices for U.S.-made products.
Park Seung-deok, chief executive officer of Qcells, said, "The completion of the U.S. solar hub is a milestone in which the technology and business capabilities that Qcells has steadily built amid external uncertainty and market changes have borne fruit, and it is of great significance in that we have established a strategic forward base to leap beyond solar manufacturing into a comprehensive renewable energy corporations."