First Solar Begins First Phase of SC Facility

First Solar, Inc. inaugurated the first phase of its new facility in Gaffney, Cherokee County, South Carolina, onshoring final production processes for the company’s Series 6 Plus modules initiated by the company’s international fleet. The second phase is forecast to be completed by mid-2027, when the approximately $330 million facility is expected to double its annual nameplate capacity to 3.4 gigawatts (GW) and produce the company’s CuRe technology, while supporting nearly 700 jobs. Approximately 500 of those jobs are already filled.

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, U..S Senator Darline Graham, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, South Carolina Senator Harvey Peeler, South Carolina Representatives Dennis Moss and Brian Lawson, and Gaffney Mayor Lyman D. Dawkins III joined First Solar Chief Executive Officer Mark Widmar, employees and community leaders for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The South Carolina facility supports American energy dominance and affordability goals, and was catalyzed by demand for domestically produced energy technology created by the Administration’s trade policies.

The new facility expands First Solar’s footprint in South Carolina, which also includes a distribution center in Duncan, Spartanburg County, and a longstanding partnership with Inland Port Greer. First Solar already operates the largest solar technology manufacturing and research and development (R&D) footprint in the Western Hemisphere, with manufacturing facilities in Alabama, Louisiana and Ohio, in addition to South Carolina, and R&D centers in Ohio and California. By the end of 2026, the company expects to have invested over $5 billion in American manufacturing and R&D infrastructure since 2019, and by 2027 it forecasts approximately 17 GW of US module manufacturing capacity, without depending on Chinese silicon supply chains.

Having manufactured in the US since 2002, First Solar is a leading solar supplier and the only one of the world’s largest solar manufacturers headquartered in the U.S. A study commissioned by First Solar and conducted by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette estimated that the company supported nearly 30,000 American jobs and $3.0 billion in labor income in 2025, while contributing approximately $5.8 billion to U.S. gross domestic product (GDP). The analysis projects that by 2027 the company will support more than 39,000 jobs and $4.0 billion in labor income and contribute approximately $7.8 billion to U.S. GDP.