The solar cell, the thin silicon slice that turns light into electricity, is the part of a solar panel that does the work. Suniva, which calls itself the only US-owned solar cell maker at commercial scale, has raised $835 million to make far more of them in the United States. The company announced the financing on September 8.
A panel factory without its own cells still depends on whoever makes them. Suniva argues that energy independence starts there, and its investors have now put money behind that argument.
From 1 to 5.5 gigawatts
The money is a mix of loans and equity. Goldman Sachs Alternatives and I Squared Capital provide the main loans. Equity investors include Electron Capital Partners, Orion Infrastructure Capital and Rubric Capital Management, and the largest shareholder, Lion Point Capital, also took part.
It pays for a 4.5 gigawatt cell plant in Laurens County, South Carolina, a project of about $600 million in a building of about 621,000 square feet. Suniva's existing plant in Norcross, Georgia, makes 1 gigawatt a year, so the total would reach 5.5 gigawatts.
Already sold
Suniva says long-term contracts already cover most of the planned output. The plant should be finished in late 2027 and reach full production in 2028. The company expects 564 jobs there.
"U.S. energy independence requires domestic production of U.S. solar cells," said CEO Tony Etnyre. The new plant will make high-efficiency monocrystalline silicon cells, the type cut from a single crystal.
