Suniva has unveiled plans to invest over $350 million in a 4.5 GW cell plant in South Carolina, US
On completion, its total US cell capacity will rise to 5.5 GW, including its Georgia facility
The move is aligned with the rising demand for domestically made solar cells amid policy support
Suniva has announced plans to establish a new solar cell manufacturing facility with an annual production capacity of 4.5 GW. Combined with its existing 1 GW operational plant in Norcross, Georgia, the expansion will increase the company’s total cell manufacturing capacity in the United States to 5.5 GW.
This will make it the ‘largest’ of any merchant solar cell manufacturer in the US. It targets the fab to start commercial operations in Q2 2027.
The cell maker has picked Laurens, South Carolina, as the location for the new factory, which will span 620,000 sq. ft. It will be a state-of-the-art fab worth over $350 million in investment. Suniva expects the fab to create 564 jobs in advanced manufacturing and energy.
A pure-play solar cell manufacturer, Suniva supplies US-made solar PV cells to module makers. The strategy aligns with the growing demand for domestically produced solar cells in the US, where module capacity has already exceeded 65 GW, but upstream has yet to keep pace (see US Solar Deployments Dropped 14% YoY In 2025 With 43.2 GW DC Installed).
With the US government emphasizing the need to ensure that no imported supply of solar PV products from a Foreign Entity of Concern (FEOC) is used, lest companies lose out on tax credits, domestically produced solar cells will be in high demand.
“At this moment in history, the question of where our energy comes from – and who controls the supply chain that delivers it – is among the most consequential questions America faces. Suniva’s answer is straightforward: we build it here,” said Suniva President and COO Matt Card. “With this expansion, Suniva contributes over 5.5GW of American-made solar cell capacity annually to a grid that increasingly depends on it.”
In 2025, Suniva partnered with ISC Konstanz to optimize its 1 GW PERC cell lines in Georgia (see ISC Konstanz And Suniva Partner To Scale U.S. Solar Cell Manufacturing).