Hemlock Semiconductor and parent company Corning Inc. take advantage of tax incentives established by the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act to increase their involvement in the solar energy production market. World of solar energy has confirmed that, in addition to increased production of polysilicon for the solar energy market, the Hemlock, Michigan companies will soon produce silicon rods and wafers for solar panels.
Credit: Hemlock
Hemlock has a long relationship with the domestic polysilicon market, producing nearly a quarter of the world’s polysilicon supply along with fellow US producers REC Silicon and Wacker Chemie in the early 2010s. The trio scaled back their domestic production of polysilicon around 2013 after China increased production and priced it out of the market. REC Silicon only recently restarted operations in Moses Lake, Washington, to make polysilicon for Qcells solar panels, made in America.
In one 2022 earnings callCorning Chairman and CEO Wendell Weeks noted that Hemlock has restarted idle capacity for “take-or-pay contracts for solar polysilicon.”
“We believe Corning’s broader engineering and manufacturing capabilities will prove highly relevant and help advance the renewable energy industry, and we see excellent growth potential in solar,” said Weeks.
The Ministry of Commerce announced this last week had signed a preliminary memorandum of terms with Hemlock to provide up to $325 million in CHIPS and Science Act funding to increase production of semiconductor-grade polysilicon manufacturing. The funding will support the construction of a new facility on Hemlock’s existing campus in Michigan.
This new facility is separate from a new $900 million manufacturing site announced in February. The Michigan Economic Development Corp. has earmarked nearly $110 million in financing for Corning and its new subsidiary Solar Technology LLC to build a “solar component” manufacturing plant near the Hemlock Semiconductor site, creating more than 1,100 jobs. Following the recent news from the Treasury Department that solar wafer production could benefit from the 25% 48D Advanced Manufacturing Investment Credit (CHIPS ITC), local news reported that Corning would receive 48D credits at the Solar Technology facility to produce wafers for the solar market.
World of solar energy has reached out to Corning, Hemlock and rumored partners, and has only received confirmation that a waffle plant is in the works. No details about the scope or timeline have been revealed.
There is currently only one wafer manufacturer in the United States that is close to being operational: Qcells in Georgia, which will use REC Silicon polysilicon to produce the country’s only silicon solar panel with an all-American supply chain. NorSun announced it would build a wafer plant in Oklahoma, but construction has yet to begin. Corning’s waffle plant in Michigan would be the third waffle plant planned in the United States.