The U.S. Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office (LPO) has announced a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee of up to $1 billion to support Qcells' solar supply chain manufacturing facility in Cartersville, Georgia. This commitment is part of Qcells' broader plan to invest $2.8 billion in domestic solar manufacturing.
Qcells, headquartered in Seoul, aims to construct a facility in Cartersville that will produce the entire solar supply chain, including ingots, wafers, cells, and finished panels at a multi-gigawatt scale. The LPO, known for financing large-scale energy infrastructure projects in the U.S., will support this ambitious initiative once the loan guarantee is finalized.
In addition to the potential $1.45 billion in Department of Energy funding, Qcells is committing more than $2.5 billion to bolster domestic solar manufacturing and innovation, which is seen as crucial for accelerating the U.S. clean energy transition.
“Qcells' highly anticipated, integrated supply chain facility in Cartersville, Georgia, has made significant progress,” the company stated. They emphasized that by the end of this year, Qcells will be producing the entire solar supply chain “from ingot to finished panel, all under one roof in Georgia.” The company highlighted the importance of onshoring solar manufacturing to achieve a sustainable, secure, and independent energy future in the U.S., crediting ongoing support from the Inflation Reduction Act and local to federal officials.
With the combined output from Qcells' factory in Dalton and the new facility in Cartersville, the company's total annual solar production capacity in Georgia is expected to reach 8.4 gigawatts (GW) by the end of 2024. This is enough to power nearly 1.3 million homes annually.
According to a report from Chmura JobsEQ, provided by the Cartersville-Bartow County Department of Economic Development, Qcells has already created 3,800 direct jobs and nearly 7,000 total jobs (direct, indirect, and induced) in Bartow and Whitfield counties.
