Corning, Suniva and Heliene combine strengths to produce what will be the first solar module with polysilicon, wafers and cells made in the United States.
The announced deal between Suniva, Corning and Heliene aims to alleviate the challenge of finding domestically produced solar modules as the Heliene modules will have domestic content of 66%, the company reports.
Key provisions for the U.S. solar industry in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 are the clean energy manufacturing and production tax credits, along with the domestic content bonus. For projects that meet domestic content requirements, developers can combine the three credits to cover as much as 50% of installed system costs.
While the domestic content bonus is important impetus for building out the U.S. solar supply chain, manufacturing has been slow to ramp up, leaving solar developers hard pressed to find completely U.S.-made solar products.
(Read: Navigating the challenges of domestic content compliance)
The wafers will be produced by Corning using polysilicon from Michigan-based Hemlock Semiconductor (HSC). A year ago, Corning announced it was beginning construction of a $900 million manufacturing facility in Saginaw County, Michigan where its subsidiary, Solar Technology LLC, would reportedly produce polysilicon ingots and wafers for the solar industry.
“Corning is excited to leverage our advanced manufacturing expertise to deliver top-quality solar components and secure the U.S. energy supply chain,” said AB Ghosh, Corning vice president and general manager of Solar Technologies, and chairman and CEO of Hemlock Semiconductor.
In 2023, Suniva announced plans to restart its idled factory in Norcross, Georgia, which operated at around 450 MW of production capacity at the time of its closure in 2017. The company closed due to bankruptcy, saying at the time that it could not compete with low-cost Chinese imports. Suniva now credits the subsidies contained within the IRA with its ability to restart the idle plant, which the company said had a planned capacity of 1 GW and will eventually scale up to 2.5 GW per year.
“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,” said Matt Card, president of Suniva.
Heliene has been manufacturing solar modules in Ontario, Canada since 2010 and in Mountain Iron, Minnesota since 2018. In October 2024, the company announced the closing of a strategic equity investment up to $54 million to support the expansion.
“This partnership is a significant milestone for the U.S. solar industry,” said Martin Pochtaruk, CEO of Heliene. “By combining our strengths, we are able to deliver not only a high-performance module but also support the domestic economy and American job creation.”
