Korean firm plans $2.5B in new solar panel plants in Georgia

ATLANTA (AP) — A South Korean solar panel maker will invest more than $2.5 billion to build factories in Georgia, hiring 2,500 new employees and making components usually manufactured outside the United States, the company announced Wednesday.

Qcells, a unit of Hanwha Solutions, will build a new factory in Cartersville that will employ 2,000 people, with construction starting within weeks and production starting before the end of 2024.

The company also announced a third phase of its Dalton plant, already the largest maker of solar panels in the Western Hemisphere. Qcells will add nearly 500 jobs in Dalton, raising employment above 1,500 once all expansions are complete there.

“We are seeking to further expand our low-carbon solar investments as we lead the industry towards fully American-made clean energy solutions,” Qcells CEO Justin Lee said in a statement.

Democratic President Joe Biden described the announcement as “a win for workers, consumers, and our climate,” saying in a statement that it would provide good jobs, reduce American reliance on other countries for solar components, lower the cost of solar panels and help lower carbon emissions.

The Cartersville plant will fulfill one of the aims of the climate change and health care bill that Biden signed in August.

It included provisions from Georgia Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, both Democrats, allowing companies making the components used in solar panels to claim tax credits.

The Cartersville plant will assemble solar panels, silicon ingots and wafers as well as solar cells. The company will use polysilicon made at an REC Silicon plant in Moses Lake, Washington. Hanwha last year bought 21% of REC, whose shares are listed in Norway.

Brian Deese, director of Biden's National Economic Council, said such...