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Qcells has just begun manufacturing solar cells at its new factory in Cartersville, Georgia, the company announced today. It already produces solar modules there.
The company won’t be producing only solar cells and modules at the factory, though. It is going to be a vertically integrated production facility for solar modules.
“Qcells’ Cartersville facility will add 3.3 GW of vertically integrated ingot, wafer, cell, and 3.5 GW of module capacity when fully operational,” the company writes. “Qcells’ total U.S. output will hit 8.6 GW by the end of the Q3 2026, approximately the energy needed to power roughly 1.3 million American homes for a year.”
If this sounds unusual to you, that’s because it is. The company adds that this is going to be the first (“and only”) manufacturing facility in the United States to produce these various components of a solar PV module (ingot, wafer, cell, and module). “Cartersville will be the first and only U.S. factory to produce the major parts of a solar photovoltaic module under one roof, from ingot to finished panel.” The company can claim tax credits for each of these parts and the panel as a whole.
