TEMPE, Ariz.—The PV solar technology and manufacturing company First Solar, Inc. plans to establish a new facility in Gaffney, Cherokee County, South Carolina, to onshore final production processes for Series 6 Plus modules initiated by the company’s international fleet, the company said in a November release.
The company expects to spend approximately $330 million to establish the new facility, which is scheduled to begin commercial operations in the second half of 2026. The facility is forecast to create more than 600 new jobs with an average manufacturing salary of $74,000 per year, approximately twice the per capita income in Cherokee County.
The South Carolina facility is projected to “directly support American energy dominance and affordability goals, the company said. It 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), reaching 17.7 GW of annual nameplate capacity in 2027,” the release stated.
“South Carolina is proud to be a destination for innovative energy companies that are powering our country with American technology,” said Governor Henry McMaster of South Carolina, in the release. “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. Their expanded presence in our state will provide even more opportunities for hardworking South Carolinians.”
The onshored processes will transform thin film solar cells produced by First Solar’s international fleet into fully completed modules. The new facility expands First Solar’s footprint in South Carolina, which currently includes a distribution center in Duncan, Spartanburg County, and a longstanding partnership with Inland Port Greer.
Altogether, the company said it expects to directly employ more than 5,500 people in the United States by the end of 2026. It also said it will have invested approximately $4.5 billion in American manufacturing and R&D infrastructure since 2019.
Reported to be the only U.S.-headquartered company among the world’s largest solar manufacturers, First Solar said it is focused on “competitively and reliably enabling power generation needs with its advanced, uniquely American thin film PV technology.”
Developed at research and development (R&D) labs in California and Ohio, the company’s technology is said to represent the next generation of solar power generation, providing a competitive, high-performance, and responsibly produced alternative to conventional crystalline silicon PV modules.