<p> Seoul-headquartered PV solar-cell manufacturing giant <ahref="https://www.q-cells.co.uk/"target="_blank"rel="noreferrer noopener">Q Cells</a> today announced that it’s opening a new solar panel manufacturing facility in Dalton, Georgia. </p>
<h2id="h-georgia-solar-panel-manufacturing-grows-again"> Georgia solar panel manufacturing grows again </h2>
<p> It’s a $171 million expansion of Q Cells’ existing solar module manufacturing plant in Dalton, and that will create 470 additional jobs. Total local Q Cells employees will exceed 1,000 when the expansion is complete. </p>
<p> Groundbreaking is planned for fall 2022 and operation is expected to commence within the first half of 2023. </p>
<p> This latest domestic solar manufacturing expansion will boost production of advanced photovoltaic (PV) modules, and that will help the US work move toward its goal of decarbonizing the electric grid. </p>
<p> The new facility will produce 1.4 gigawatts (GW) of solar modules per year made with Q Cells’ next-gen PV cells, a high-efficiency tunnel oxide passivated contact technology better known as TOPCon. </p>
<p> Combined with the existing 1.7-GW factory, the expansion will bring Q Cells’ total capacity in the US to 3.1 GW; that’s equivalent to one-third of the country’s solar module manufacturing capacity. </p>
<p>Qcells CEO Justin Lee said:</p>
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<p> Georgia has become the clean energy manufacturing heart of America, and we are proud to contribute to the state’s advanced manufacturing economy. </p>
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<p> Q Cells has the largest market share in the US commercial and residential markets and also supplies the utility-scale solar sector. </p>
<p> Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) met with Q Cells’ parent company Hanwha in Seoul last year and has been actively pitching and securing additional clean energy investment in Georgia. </p>
<p> Ossoff also recently helped secure <ahref="https://electrek.co/2022/05/20/hyundai-motor-group-announces-its-first-dedicated-ev-facilities-coming-to-the-us/"target="_blank"rel="noreferrer noopener">Hyundai’s investment in electric vehicles</a> that will create over 8,000 jobs in Bryan County. </p>
<h2id="h-washington-georgia-embraces-solar"> Washington, Georgia, embraces solar </h2>
<p> Also in Georgia, <ahref="https://wesolarcsp.com/"target="_blank"rel="noreferrer noopener">WeSolar CSP</a>, a minority-owned renewable energy tech and design company headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, will design a solar farm along with a microgrid that will supply the City of Washington, Georgia, that will replace natural gas use. Washington is 90 miles east of Atlanta and has a population of around 4,000. </p>
<p> The project will comprise both solar panels and a concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) technology. </p>
<p>WeSolar CSP’s CEO, Steve Anglin, said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p> The citizens of the City of Washington will benefit by having a cleaner environment and experiencing price certainty in the face of the ever-increasing energy costs of fossil fuels. </p>
</blockquote>
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<strong>Read more:</strong>
<ahref="https://electrek.co/2022/05/04/here-are-3-vital-insights-installers-shared-about-the-state-of-solar-in-2021/">Here are 3 vital insights installers shared about the state of solar in 2021</a>
</p>
<p><em>Photo: Hanwha Q Cells</em></p>
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