1. Heliene, a Minnesota-based solar panel manufacturer, will purchase $400 million worth of silicon solar cells from Suniva over the next three years.
2. Suniva plans to restart solar cell manufacturing at its Georgia factory within the next few months, with an expected annual production capacity of 1GW.
3. Heliene and Suniva have received investments from Orion Infrastructure Capital to support domestic solar manufacturing, with Heliene’s panels being the first to qualify for domestic content bonus credits using American-made cells.
Minnesota-based solar panel manufacturer Heliene has announced a $400 million, three-year contract with Suniva to purchase silicon solar cells for its factory. Suniva is expected to restart solar cell manufacturing at its Georgia factory soon. This partnership aims to boost domestic manufacturing and onshoring supply in the U.S. solar market.
Heliene’s CEO, Martin Pochtaruk, expressed pride in the partnership with Suniva, highlighting the opportunity to expand offerings of high-quality modules and qualify for tax credits and incentives. Suniva plans to restart its cell manufacturing operations in Georgia after the Biden Administration included manufacturing tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act.
Heliene currently operates an 800-MW solar panel assembly campus in Minnesota and has plans for a new panel assembly facility in the Twin Cities area. Both companies have received investments from Orion Infrastructure Capital due to incentives in the IRA encouraging more domestic solar manufacturing.
The partnership will allow Heliene’s solar panels to meet the domestic content bonus standards set by the Treasury Dept. for using American-made cells. Suniva’s cell factory will be the first silicon cell manufacturing operation in the U.S. this year, making Heliene’s solar panels the first to qualify for the domestic content bonus with American-made cells. Suniva’s CEO, Cristiano Amoruso, sees the partnership as a step towards growing the U.S. solar PV supply chain and fulfilling their promise of bringing back cell manufacturing to the U.S. at their Norcross facility.