US PV manufacturer Silfab Solar has closed a US$100 million financing to scale its US solar cell manufacturing plant.
The financing will go towards the company’s solar cell production and module assembly plant in Fort Mill, York County, South Carolina. The plant is expected to have an annual nameplate capacity of 1GW and 1.2GW for solar cells and modules, respectively.
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The company unveiled its plan to build the tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar cell plant in South Carolina last year with an investment of US$150 million.
According to the company, the plant is expected to begin commercial operations by the end of the year.
Funding is split in a US$50 million equity investment led by funds advised by ARC Financial Corp, while another US$50 million green loan led by energy-focused asset manager Breakwall Capital. This is not the first time ARC has funded Silfab Solar’s manufacturing operations, last year, it received US$125 million to build a 1GW solar cell plant in the US.
As the solar manufacturer continues to build its domestic manufacturing capacity, it has also partnered with Norwegian solar ingot manufacturer NorSun to expand ingot and wafer production in the US. Frequent readers of PV Tech would know that ingot and wafer capacity in the US is scarce, with only a few manufacturing announcements made since the Inflation Reduction passed into law in 2022.
Both parts of the supply chain were recently included in the Advanced Manufacturing Investment Credit (CHIPS ITC) tax credits. In a final ruling, The US Department of Treasury (DOT) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have included the manufacturing of solar ingots and wafers with a 25% investment tax credit under Section 48D of the Advanced Manufacturing Investment Credit rules.
In addition to building domestic solar manufacturing capacity, the company has secured a supply deal with recycling firm Solarcycle to receive domestic solar glass. The supply deal will see Solarcycle supply recycled PV glass at its Polk County, Georgia, facility to the solar manufacturer’s manufacturing plant in South Carolina.
Silfab Solar has also manufacturing plants in the US state of Washington and in Canada.
