First Solar Completes First Phase of Planned 3.4-GW PV Module Production in South Carolina
Module maker First Solar, Inc. celebrated the opening of the first 1.7 GW phase of its new South Carolina facility, part of a $330 million investment to onshore final production processes for its photovoltaic product manufacturing from its international fleet.
The South Carolina facility in Gaffney, Cherokee County, is expected to bring First Solar’s total annual nameplate capacity to 3.4 GW once fully completed by mid-2027, according to a company release. The solar PV tech and manufacturing company is focusing on final domestic production of its Series 6 Plus modules, thin-film PV solar panels made from cadmium telluride and engineered for utility-scale installation.
According to a First Solar and National Renewable Energy Laboratory study, Group V (or Group 5) elements like CdTe solar cells have historically relied on copper to generate the electric field required to harvest solar energy. However, some instabilities copper introduces include rapidly diffusing through PV layer materials, degrading the solar cell over time.
First Solar notes that each Series 6 Plus module provides up to 480 watts of power, leveraging the company’s CuRe (copper replacement) technology. CuRe tech aims to improve the panel's cadmium telluride semiconductor structure by replacing copper with what First Solar considers more stable Group V elements to reduce long-term power degradation.
“Less than a year after we selected Gaffney, this facility is ready to produce American solar technology, built by South Carolinian workers,” said First Solar CEO Mark Widmar during a ribbon-cutting ceremony. “That pace reflects what is possible when sound policy, strong state and local partners and a committed workforce align.”
Widmar noted that every module produced at the Gaffney facility is made without foreign dependence on countries like China for crystalline silicon supply chains as American electricity demand grows.
Over the next two to four years, research firm Wood Mackenzie outlined that sourcing components free from Foreign Entities of Concern (FEOC) status could emerge as a critical market bottleneck amid a massive imbalance in the U.S. clean energy transition.
First Solar leaders add that because of this, investment in the South Carolina facility aligns with the current U.S. administration’s trade policies and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which supports President Donald Trump’s American energy dominance and affordability agenda goals. While the South Carolina facility aims to strengthen First Solar’s ability to deliver to its U.S.-based customers, the company is on track to support nearly 700 jobs in the process. Approximately 500 of those domestic jobs have reportedly already been filled.
The new plant expands First Solar’s footprint in South Carolina, which includes a distribution center in Duncan, Spartanburg County, and a longstanding supply chain partnership with the intermodal rail facility Inland Port Greer, operated by the South Carolina Ports Authority. By the end of this year, First Solar noted that it forecasts approximately 17 GW of U.S. module manufacturing capacity, none of which will have any dependence on Chinese crystalline silicon supply chains.
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Eric Moody
