Premium

Heliene president opens up on US manufacturing plans post-IRA

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Heliene president Martin Pochtaruk, pictured, at the groundbreaking ceremony for the company’s Minnesota plant expansion. Image: Heliene.

Canadian module manufacturer Heliene is planning a further buildout of its US manufacturing base following the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), with plans in motions for another module line as well as 1GW of cell capacity, says its president Martin Pochtaruk.

Heliene currently has 450MW of PV module capacity in the US and work is almost complete on its new 400MW production facility in Minnesota, which Pochtaruk said is almost finished with equipment being brought in and final touches being made to its office space. This will be officially open on 27 October in a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by Duluth Senator Amy Klobuchar.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

Not ready to commit yet?
  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

Add onto this 250MW of capacity in Canada, and this takes Heliene’s total production capacity to 1.1GW.

But that was before the IRA, however. The company is now planning a further buildout of US manufacturing as it seeks to take advantage of the lucrative support schemes contained within the Act. These have been designed to not only encourage US PV manufacturing but also incentives for project development that will drive up demand for modules.

Pochtaruk told PV Tech Premium that Heliene – which was in attendance at a White House meeting to explore how the US could kickstart its PV manufacturing industry –  was planning to develop a 450MW-500MW production line in another location in the US towards the end of 2023. It is looking at different locations and targeting existing buildings.  

Moreover, this will be accompanied by a 1GW-1.2GW solar cell facility for self-consumption that Pochtaruk says will make the company more vertically integrated and ensure a stable supply of US-made cells for its module production. It will still source its further upstream components from ex-Xinjiang regions in China until more US supply comes online.  

Against the backdrop of US import restriction as a result of the Department of Commerce’s investigation into alleged anti-dumping and circumvention of import trade rules by solar manufacturers in Southeast Asia, Heliene had seen demand for its modules skyrocket as US developers scrambled to secure North American-made modules, Pochtaruk previously told PV Tech.

And despite the restrictions being supplanted by President Joe Biden’s executive order waiving all anti-dumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVD) tariffs for two years, demand for Heliene’s products has not diminished. Pochtaruk told this site that the company is currently sold out until 2024 and that it could extend this further if it was sure on where the market would be.

Instead, it is now “allocating capacity”, rather than selling it, which means it is entering into contracts that will fix a price for products 120 days prior to delivery. At that point, prices will be decided on a cost-plus basis, given nobody knows where inflation and shipping costs will be then, Pochtaruk explains.

Heliene is not the only solar manufacturer planning capacity additions following the IRA. Notable announcements have come out from Meyer Burger, Nextracker, First Solar, REC Silicon and Hanwha Solution, to name but a few.  

7 October 2025
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
PV Tech has been running an annual PV CellTech Conference since 2016. PV CellTech USA, on 7-8 October 2025 is our third PV CellTech conference dedicated to the U.S. manufacturing sector. The events in 2023 and 2024 were a sell out success and 2025 will once again gather the key stakeholders from PV manufacturing, equipment/materials, policy-making and strategy, capital equipment investment and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out PV manufacturing in the U.S. out to 2030 and beyond.
21 October 2025
New York, USA
Returning for its 12th edition, Solar and Storage Finance USA Summit remains the annual event where decision-makers at the forefront of solar and storage projects across the United States and capital converge. Featuring the most active solar and storage transactors, join us for a packed two-days of deal-making, learning and networking.
16 June 2026
Napa, USA
PV Tech has been running PV ModuleTech Conferences since 2017. PV ModuleTech USA, on 16-17 June 2026, will be our fifth PV ModulelTech conference dedicated to the U.S. utility scale solar sector. The event will gather the key stakeholders from solar developers, solar asset owners and investors, PV manufacturing, policy-making and and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out the PV module supply channels to the U.S. out to 2027 and beyond.

Read Next

August 29, 2025
US-based climate insurance provider kWh Analytics has launched a new renewable energy insurance cover for extreme weather events.
August 29, 2025
US grid interconnection agreements grew by 33% in 2024, reaching 75GW, with three-quarters signed for solar PV and battery energy storage system (BESS) projects, according to a new report from energy market analyst Wood Mackenzie.
Premium
August 29, 2025
PV Tech Premium hears from Renewable Properties and Silicon Ranch about the new 'start of construction' rules for US solar projects.
August 28, 2025
Indian solar manufacturing firm INA Solar has broken ground on its fourth 4.5GW cell production plant in Narmadapuram, Madhya Pradesh.
Premium
August 28, 2025
US solar companies could potentially pay “tens of billions” of dollars in retroactive duties on products imported from Southeast Asia between June 2022 and June 2024, following a decision from the US Court of International Trade (CIT).
August 28, 2025
Boviet Solar has completed exterior construction work on its 3GW PV cell manufacturing facility in Greenville, Pitt County, North Carolina. 

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
September 16, 2025
Athens, Greece
Solar Media Events
September 30, 2025
Seattle, USA
Solar Media Events
October 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
October 2, 2025
London,UK
Solar Media Events
October 7, 2025
Manila, Philippines