PV project developer and EPC firm SPI Energy has signed a letter of intent to secure 1.5GW of solar wafer manufacturing equipment for a US production facility.
The company targets the production and delivery of solar wafers in the US by 2023, while it has planned to further increase its solar wafer capacity to 3GW by 2024.
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The announcement comes days after US President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) into law which will include solar manufacturing tax credits for wafers, with manufacturers receiving US$12 per square metre.
“I am very grateful to see the bill passed, as it will not only lower energy prices and help the country meet its climate goals, but boost US manufacturing and create jobs,” said Xiaofeng Denton Peng, chairman and CEO of SPI Energy.
Branded as the largest climate package in US history, the IRA’s impact on solar manufacturing could bring its capacity to over 50GW by the end of the decade, according to trade body the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).
With the legislation being dubbed as the “best chance the US has” to build out a domestic PV manufacturing base, SPI Energy is the latest company to announce it will either start manufacturing in the US or increase its production, as Maxeon and REC Silicon did recently.
