Vietnamese solar manufacturer Boviet Solar will build its first North American production facility in Greenville, Pitt County, in the US state of North Carolina.
The company will invest US$294 million into the plant, which will have an annual module production capacity of 2GW, alongside an annual cell production capacity of 2GW. The plant will produce Boviet’s range of tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) n-type cells, for use in its Gamma Series monofacial and Vega Series bifacial panels, which can be deployed at both utility-scale and distributed operations.
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“We are thrilled to embark on this new chapter in our journey as our establishment into North Carolina marks a pivotal moment in our mission to foster stronger connections with our clients while driving innovation and excellence in everything we do,” said Sienna Cen, president of Boviet Solar USA.
“Through ‘Made in America’ products, we are confident in our ability to deliver superior experiences and remain responsive to the diverse needs of our clients.”
Cen’s comments come at a time when the US is looking to incentivise the domestic manufacture of renewable power products, with the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) driving new interest in US-based manufacturing. Boviet’s US facility will be the company’s second, alongside a factory in Vietnam, and its leaders expect to begin commercial operations of the North Carolina plant in the first quarter of 2025.
However, both Canadian developer Heliene and Italian firm 3Sun told PV Tech Premium last year that the IRA could leave the US solar industry with more questions than answers. The arrival of a Vietnamese company into the US manufacturing space at this time is also notable. While Boviet was found to not have circumvented import tariffs, the role of Vietnam in the US solar sector more broadly is under scrutiny amid ongoing concerns about the anti-dumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD).
“It’s great to welcome Boviet Solar to North Carolina,” said North Carolina governor Roy Cooper, who remains optimistic about the news.
“This decision has proven yet again that North Carolina is a hub for clean energy, offering advanced manufacturers a skilled workforce, an excellent quality of life, and affordable communities to support its work in sustainability.”
North Carolina is among the leading states for solar deployment in the US, with 9.3GW of installed capacity at the end of 2023 according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). However, the association expects the state to add just 2.3GW of new capacity over the next five years, the 23rd-most among the states, suggesting that the sector’s focus may be shifting from downstream deployment to upstream manufacturing.