Qcells, a solar panel manufacturer, has received a conditional commitment for a $1.45 billion federal loan guarantee to construct a solar supply chain manufacturing facility in Cartersville, Georgia.
The new facility will have the capacity to produce ingots, wafers, cells and finished panels at multi-gigawatt levels. Qcells is investing over $2.5 billion into this project in order to boost domestic solar manufacturing.
With the addition of this new plant in Cartersville and their existing factory in Dalton, Qcells expects its total annual production capacity in Georgia to reach 8.4 GW by the end of this year – enough energy to power approximately 1.3 million homes annually.
Despite an oversupply of solar panels stored in U.S warehouses for two years which caused prices to drop significantly accordingto the US Energy Department,the loan was still granted.
This conditional commitment from DOE shows their intention to finance the project; however,Qcells must meet certain technical, legal environmental and financial requirements before definitive financing documents are signed and funds are released for the loan.
