Hanwha Advanced Materials Georgia Inc. (HAGA) is investing $147 million into a new manufacturing plant in Cartersville, Ga., that will create 160 jobs supplying encapsulate film to the largest solar assembly facility of its kind in the Western Hemisphere in nearby Dalton.
The subsidiary of Seoul-based Hanwha Group produces a film used in solar cells that helps boost the long-term durability of panels.
HAGA will be the only U.S. company manufacturing solar encapsulants, according to a news release about the project.
"The products we make are an important piece of the clean energy supply chain puzzle, and we are excited to meet this need," HAGA CEO Inhwan Kim said in the release. "Building our cutting-edge, advanced materials in Georgia will not only create new careers in solar but help bring more affordable, reliable clean energy to customers across the country."
The special film will be supplied to Qcells USA Corp., which operates a 300,000-square foot factory producing about 1.7 gigawatts (GW) of solar modules each year. That's equivalent to the peak output of the Hoover Dam.
Qcells USA is part of Seoul-based Qcells and its plan to build its entire supply chain for solar modules — from raw materials to full assembly — in the U.S.
The construction of the HAGA facility is a step toward developing that domestic solar value chain. The plant, which will be built in an industrial park, is expected to come online in Summer 2024.
In January, Qcells announced it would expand its solar panel production capacity in Georgia to 8.4 gigawatts by 2024.