Hanwha Q Cells (Q Cells) completed the construction of a module production line at its Cartersville, Georgia, USA plant in April and began full-scale product production. Following the expansion of the Dalton plant last year, Q Cells completed the module production line at the Cartersville plant.
The Cartersville plant is an axis of Q Cells' solar integrated production complex 'Solar Hub' in the United States and has an annual solar module manufacturing capacity of 3.3GW. After completing pilot operations by March, full-scale production began in April, and starting next year, we plan to begin producing ingots, wafers, and cells with an annual capacity of 3.3 GW.
The Dalton Factory, another axis of the Solar Hub, completed expansion at the end of last year and tripled its annual module production capacity from 1.7 GW to 5.1 GW per year. With the completion of the module line at the Cartersville plant, Q Cells' module production capacity in the United States increased to 8.4 GW per year. This is enough to produce enough electricity to be used by approximately 1.3 million households in the United States for a year.
With new and expanded U.S. plants and increased module efficiency, Q Cells' global annual production capacity is expected to be 3.3 GW for ingots and wafers, 12.2 GW for cells, and 11.2 GW for modules by 2024.
Meanwhile, Q Cells is receiving benefits such as AMPC (Advanced Tax Credit) under the IRA (Inflation Reduction Act), which was implemented by the U.S. government to support the country's renewable energy industry. As the Cartersville plant will produce approximately 2GW of modules this year alone, the resulting tax credit benefits are expected to be an additional $140 million (approximately KRW 186 billion) within the year. Suppose ingots, wafers, cells, and modules begin to be manufactured in the United States starting next year. In that case, the tax credit benefits are expected to increase further, reaching 1 trillion won annually.
Q Cells said, "As production lines for each value chain are integrated, effects such as reduced logistics costs and improved efficiency are expected."
In addition, Q Cells is reviewing a plan to maximize IRA benefits by supplying polysilicon manufactured by REC Silicon with eco-friendly hydro energy at its Moses Lake plant in Washington, USA, into the solar hub and sourcing the entire value chain within the United States.
Hanwha Q CELLS CEO Lee Gu-young said, "We will simultaneously increase our manufacturing capabilities and expand our renewable energy business area, strengthening our leading position in major strategic markets, including the United States."
The link to the Korean version of this article is as below.
By_BK Min, KDFN
kdf@kdfnews.com
Source_ⓒHanwha Q Cells
