After REC Silicon closed shop and Qcells misplaced its home polysilicon provide, the nation has been missing a roadmap for a 100% American silicon photo voltaic panel. Right this moment, a brand new path has been introduced, with signed offers amongst Corning, Suniva and Heliene.
A 2000 archive picture from NREL.
Corning will make silicon wafers in Michigan utilizing polysilicon from close by Hemlock Semiconductor, of which Corning is almost all proprietor. The wafers will likely be despatched to Suniva in Georgia the place they’ll flip into cells. The cells will ship to Heliene’s meeting web site in Minnesota to change into absolutely shaped photo voltaic panels.
“We’re excited that this partnership brings a very Made-in-America resolution to the USA market,” stated Matt Card, President of Suniva. “Collectively, our firms provide the one photo voltaic cell out there that gives U.S. builders most ITC home content material benefit whereas constructing a home provide chain that gives for American vitality independence and a robust manufacturing base.”
This new Heliene module will include a photo voltaic cell with as much as 66% home content material, Suniva claims, which greater than meets home content material bonus credit score eligibility parameters for the funding tax credit score (ITC).
“This partnership is a major milestone for the U.S. photo voltaic business,” stated Martin Pochtaruk, CEO of Heliene. “By combining our strengths, we’re capable of ship not solely a high-performance module but in addition assist the home economic system and American job creation.”
No timeline was introduced, though the Corning wafer web site remains to be below building. Qcells, which can now supply its polysilicon from OCI in South Korea, is far additional alongside in its wafer manufacturing facility building and intends to open the Georgia web site someday this yr.
“Corning is worked up to leverage our superior manufacturing experience to ship top-quality photo voltaic elements and safe the U.S. vitality provide chain,” stated AB Ghosh, Corning VP and Basic Supervisor of Photo voltaic Applied sciences, and Chairman and CEO of Hemlock Semiconductor.
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