First Solar to build new $330 million US production facility in South Carolina

19 Nov 2025

To increase capacity of US-made solar tech by 3.7 GW, to hit total 17.7 GW in 2027.

Solar module developer

First Solar, headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, is to establish a new facility in Gaffney, Cherokee County, South Carolina. The firm says that the purpose of the new site is “to onshore final production processes for Series 6 Plus modules initiated by the company’s international fleet.”

First Solar expects to spend approximately $330 million to establish the new facility, which is scheduled to commence commercial operations in the second half of 2026. The facility is forecast to create over 600 new jobs with an average manufacturing salary of $74,000 per year, approximately twice the per capita income in Cherokee County, the firm says.

The South Carolina facility was catalyzed by demand for domestically-produced energy technology created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law by President Donald J. Trump in July 2025.

‘American-made’

The facility is expected to increase First Solar’s capacity to produce “American-made solar technology” that is fully compliant with anticipated Foreign Entities of Concern (FEOC) guidance, by 3.7 gigawatts (GW), to reach 17.7 GW of annual capacity in 2027. Governor Henry McMaster of South Carolina commented, “First Solar’s investment will create 600 new jobs in Cherokee County, which will greatly strengthen the local economy and help advance America’s energy independence.”

The onshored processes will transform thin film solar cells produced by First Solar’s international fleet into fully completed modules. The new facility expands the company’s footprint in South Carolina, which currently includes a distribution center in Duncan, Spartanburg County, and a longstanding partnership with Inland Port Greer.

The Gaffney plant will be part of what the company calls “already the largest solar technology manufacturing and research and development footprint in the Western Hemisphere, including three fully vertically integrated manufacturing facilities in Ohio, and one each in Alabama and Louisiana, along with R&D centers in Ohio and California.”

Altogether, the company, which expects to directly employ over 5,500 people in the US by the end of 2026, will have invested approximately $4.5 billion in American manufacturing and R&D infrastructure since 2019.

“The passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the Administration’s trade policies boosted demand for American energy technology, requiring a timely, agile response that allows us to meet the moment,” said Mark Widmar, CEO at First Solar. “We expect that this new facility will enable us to serve the US market with technology that is compliant with the Act’s stringent provisions, within timelines that align with our customers’ objectives.”

Having manufactured in the US since 2002, First Solar is the only one of the world’s largest solar manufacturers to be headquartered in the US. By 2027, the company says it expects to support over 30,000 direct, indirect, and induced jobs across the country – “estimated to represent more than $3 billion in labor income”.