Canadian Premium Sand (CPS) plans to build a 4GW solar glass facility in the US. The company has established a US subsidiary, CPS Glass USA Corp., and has applied for the Department of Energy’s investment tax credit (ITC).
CPS said it will repurpose a former glass manufacturing facility into a solar glass facility. It did not disclose the location of the planned factory but said it “evaluated sites with existing and under-utilised buildings, utility supply, logistics infrastructure and environmental permits”.
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The company added that it is in discussion with a potential “strategic glass manufacturing partner” to jointly develop the site. The partner would bring “glass manufacturing expertise, purchasing power for equipment and raw materials and in-house engineering capability,” CPS said in a statement.
This undisclosed US solar glass facility will add to the 6GW facility CPS is constructing in Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada. In its announcement of the US facility, CPS also announced that it has submitted an application for US$100 million in non-dilutive financial support to aid the Selkirk facility.
“Establishing 10GW supply of both low-carbon and US manufactured ultra clear pattern solar glass aligns CPS with the supply chain goals of our North American customers”, said Glenn Leroux, president & CEO of CPS.
The company framed its US expansion in direct response to the growing demand for domestically produced solar modules. Following the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and its tax credits – like the ITC – US solar module manufacturing capacity has expanded massively. Data from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) shows that the US has 43.1GW of operational module production capacity as of November 2024 and a further 17GW under construction.
As well as the ITC for clean energy manufacturing investments, the production tax credit (PTC) – which gives credits on renewable energy produced at sites – includes a 10% domestic content tax bonus for projects which comprise at least 40% US-made products and components.
Calculated based on the cost of the deployed components, the domestic content bonus provides a market for US-made components like glass, aluminium and solar module back sheets. CPS said it is “positioning itself to be the preferred supplier of solar glass” and will likely target the end market for domestic content-compliant manufacturing. It claims that US glass production reduces cost, carbon emissions and logistical issues compared with the “Asia Pacific solar glass supply chain”.
