The company’s first U.S. manufacturing facility is expected to create approximately 1,500 skilled jobs once it fully ramps up.
GUELPH, Ontario—Canadian Solar Inc., reported that it is establishing a solar PV module production facility in Mesquite, Texas. The company is building a state-of-the-art solar photovoltaic module manufacturing plant with an annual output of 5 GW, equivalent to approximately 20,000 high-power modules per day, Canadian Solar said in a release.
The new facility is said to represent an investment of more than $250 million and will create approximately 1,500 skilled jobs once it is fully ramped up. Production is expected to begin “around the end of 2023,” the company said.
This will be Canadian Solar’s first United States manufacturing facility, following its history of production in Canada, China, Brazil, Thailand, and Vietnam. In 2021, Canadian Solar relocated Recurrent Energy, its 17-year-old U.S. subsidiary, to Austin, Texas. The move spearheaded the rapid growth of renewable energy in the Lone Star State as a solar and battery storage project developer, the company said.
“Canadian Solar’s new $250 million manufacturing plant in Mesquite will bolster Texas’s status as the energy capital of the world and secure our leadership as a global tech hub,” said Governor Greg Abbott, in the release. “I thank Canadian Solar for choosing Texas for their next U.S. business investment and for creating 1,500 new jobs in the region to help boost the community for generations to come.”
Canadian Solar said it is a leader in the development and commercialization of the novel Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact (TOPCon) solar cell technology, which will be deployed in the modules produced at the Mesquite facility. TOPCon cells are reported to have the highest efficiency in commercial solar PV technology and are highly optimized in bifacial modules, generating energy from both the front and the rear of the solar cell. The deployment of the latest TOPCon technology in the U.S. will help reduce consumers’ electricity bills and further contribute towards decarbonizing the energy grid, the company said.
“Establishing this factory is a key milestone that will enable us to better serve our U.S. customers with the most advanced technology in the industry,” said Canadian Solar Founder and CEO Shawn Qu, Ph.D., in a statement. “We hope that this is the first of many long-term investments we expect to make in the U.S. as we think strategically about a sustainable and resilient clean energy supply chain. We thank the State of Texas, Dallas County, and the City of Mesquite for their critical support, and we look forward to working with them as we grow.”
In addition to manufacturing solar photovoltaic modules, Canadian Solar provides solar energy and battery storage products. It also develops utility-scale solar power and battery storage projects with a geographically diversified pipeline in various stages of development, the company said.