Minnesota-based solar panel manufacturer Heliene announced today that it will purchase silicon solar cells from Suniva under a three-year contract worth $400 million. Suniva is expected to resume production of solar cells at its Georgia factory within months.
Heliene’s solar panel factory in Minnesota. Credit: Solar Power World
“Heliene is proud to enter into this historic partnership with Suniva at a time when the US is poised to capture a greater share of the global solar market by strengthening domestic production and onshoring supply,” said Martin Pochtaruk , CEO of Heliene. “By introducing Suniva’s US-made cells into our manufacturing process, Heliene can expand its commitment to offering best-in-class modules that qualify our customers for lucrative tax credits and incentives.”
Suniva announced last year that it would restart its cell manufacturing operations in Norcross, Georgia, after the Biden administration included manufacturing tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act. Suniva expects the plant to have an annual production capacity of 1 GW.
Canada-based Heliene currently operates an 800 MW solar panel assembly campus in Mountain Iron, Minnesota. The company also announced plans for a second panel assembly plant in the Twin Cities area.
The two companies have received investments from Orion Infrastructure Capital (OIC) as incentives in the IRA have encouraged greater domestic solar energy production. The Domestic Content Bonus Credit within the IRA provides an additional bonus credit to solar installers who use American-made products. To make it as easy as possible for solar panels to qualify as “American-made,” the Treasury Department said the panels must use cells made in the United States.
As of today, only First Solar cadmium-telluride thin-film solar panels made in Ohio, which use a unique vapor deposition process that technically qualifies as cell manufacturing, are fully eligible for the domestic content bonus as described. The Suniva solar cell plant will likely be the first silicon cell production to start in the United States this year, making Heliene solar panels the first silicon solar panels to meet domestic content bonus standards using American-made cells.
“We are thrilled to partner with Heliene, who shares our vision of expanding the solar supply chain in the United States,” said Cristiano Amoruso, CEO of Suniva. “This contract is a testament to the effectiveness of the Inflation Reduction Act and the Treasury Department’s May 2023 Domestic Content Guidance. We are proud to deliver on our long-standing commitment to bring cell manufacturing back to the United States at our Norcross facility.”