U.S.-based solar cell manufacturer Suniva will invest over $350 million to set up a 4.5 GW solar cell manufacturing facility in Laurens, South Carolina. The manufacturing facility is expected to open in the second quarter of 2027.

The new facility, along with the company’s existing facility in Atlanta, Georgia, will increase Suniva’s total annual domestic solar cell manufacturing capacity to over 5.5 GW.

Suniva claims that its monocrystalline solar cells achieve efficiencies exceeding 23%.

In 2024, Suniva engaged in reshoring cell manufacturing in the U.S. for the first time in five years, restarting production at its 1 GW factory in Georgia.

Last March, U.S.-based material sciences company Corning, Suniva, and solar module producer Heliene partnered to establish the first fully U.S.-made solar module supply chain. The collaboration aims to provide the U.S. market with solar modules made using locally manufactured polysilicon, wafers, and solar cells.

Module manufacturing capacity in the U.S. expanded by more than 50%, reaching 65.5 GW by the end of 2025, up from 42.5 GW at the end of 2024. Cell manufacturing capacity also continued to grow, while wafer capacity came online in the U.S. for the first time since 2016.

In February 2025, ES Foundry opened a high-volume solar cell manufacturing facility in Greenwood, South Carolina. . The company aims to manufacture crystalline bifacial Passivated Emitter and Rear Contact solar cells to meet the increasing demand for domestically manufactured solar modules.

South Korea-headquartered green energy and chemical company OCI Holdings also announced plans to expand its U.S. solar value chain by building a solar cell manufacturing plant through its U.S. solar subsidiary, Mission Solar Energy. The company said it would invest $265 million in the facility and targeted commencing commercial production of 1 GW of solar cells in the first half of 2026. It plans to increase the facility’s production capacity to 2 GW in the second half of 2026.