Suniva, Heliene and Corning have announced a partnership to produce a US-made solar module with the highest domestic content
Corning will supply wafers using polysilicon sourced from its group company Hemlock Semiconductor
Suniva will produce the solar cell for Heliene to make a pure US-made solar module
US solar cell producer Suniva and module manufacturer Heliene have joined hands with Corning Incorporated to produce what they believe will be the ‘only’ solar module with US-made polysilicon, wafers and cells.
Corning will be the wafer suppler in the partnership, using hyper-pure polysilicon from US polysilicon producer Hemlock Semiconductor (HSC). Corning is the majority shareholder of HSC, which received $325 million from the US government to build a new factory in Michigan (see Hemlock Semiconductor Bags $325 Million Under US CHIPS Act). This follows Corning joining hands with Energy Materials Corporation in 2020 to explore perovskite solar panels (see Corning & EMC Join Hands To Explore Perovskite Solar Panels).
Both the polysilicon and the wafers will be produced in Michigan, and solar cells in Georgia from Suniva’s reopened factory.
“The new module contains a solar cell with up to 66 percent domestic content—the highest percentage on the market—offering solar developers a significant advantage through the Investment Tax Credit domestic content bonus,” stated the trio in a joint statement.
Suniva President Matt Card said, “Together, our companies offer the only solar cell in the market that provides U.S. developers maximum ITC domestic content advantage - while building a domestic supply chain that provides for American energy independence and a strong manufacturing base.”
Details of the annual manufacturing capacity and timeline of its commercial availability, and the module specifications were not shared. Heliene and Suniva had announced a strategic solar cell supply deal for 3 years in March 2024 (see US & Canadian Solar PV Manufacturers Join Hands).
Nevertheless, this will surely be of interest to the US market with its emphasis on domestic content to secure incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The US has over 50 GW of solar module manufacturing capacity, but little for the other raw materials (see US Solar Module Manufacturing Capacity Exceeds 50 GW Milestone).
There are fears, however, of the US President Donald Trump administration bringing down this IRA support with regulatory changes. So far, nothing has been officially announced, but the US solar industry is reaching out to the rule-makers to gather support from both Republicans and the Democrats in the Congress to let the status quo remain.
Led by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), more than 1,850 clean energy companies have written to Congress to preserve the incentives, saying that these federal incentives are fueling a surge in domestic clean energy manufacturing and creating jobs.