First Solar Cuts Ribbon on $330 Million South Carolina Plant

First Solar (FSLR ) inaugurated the first phase of its new solar module production facility in Gaffney, Cherokee County, South Carolina, on October 28, 2026, at a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by federal, state, and local officials. The approximately $330 million facility onshores final production processes for the company’s Series 6 Plus modules that the company’s international fleet initiated, and it is First Solar’s sixth facility in the United States.

The company forecasts completion of the facility’s second phase by mid-2027. At that point, the plant is expected to double its annual nameplate capacity to 3.4 gigawatts and to produce the company’s CuRe technology. First Solar said the facility is expected to support nearly 700 jobs and that approximately 500 of those jobs have already been filled.

First Solar also forecasts approximately 17 gigawatts of US module manufacturing capacity by 2027 and said none of that capacity has any dependence on Chinese crystalline silicon supply chains.

Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, US Senator Darline Graham, US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, State Senator Harvey Peeler, State 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 ceremony.

“Thanks to First Solar’s investment, South Carolinians are building American energy technology in Gaffney, with nearly 700 good-paying jobs expected to support this critical work,” McMaster said, adding that the facility is another example of why South Carolina continues to be recognized as a manufacturing powerhouse and a leader in the nation’s energy future.

Graham said the investment supports an America-first, affordable energy agenda and represents a vote of confidence in South Carolina workers, and that good-paying jobs provide solid foundations for families and communities in Cherokee County. Lutnick said First Solar invented its own technology and is building it in South Carolina with American workers. Dawkins thanked the company for investing in Gaffney and said the investment reaches the small businesses that are the backbone of the community.

“Less than a year after we selected Gaffney, this facility is ready to produce American solar technology, built by South Carolinian workers,” Widmar said. He said the pace reflected what is possible when policy, state and local partners, and a committed workforce align, and that every module leaving the facility is made without dependence on Chinese crystalline silicon supply chains, strengthening the company’s ability to deliver certainty to customers as American electricity demand grows.

US Footprint and Economic Study

First Solar said the Gaffney facility was catalyzed by demand for domestically produced energy technology created by the Administration’s trade policies and by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Donald J. Trump signed into law in July 2025. The company said the facility supports American energy dominance and affordability goals.

The 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. The company operates manufacturing facilities in Alabama, Louisiana, Ohio, and South Carolina and research and development centers in Ohio and California, and it describes itself as operating the largest solar technology manufacturing and R&D footprint in the Western Hemisphere.

By the end of 2026, First Solar expects to have invested more than $5 billion in American manufacturing and R&D infrastructure since 2019. The company has manufactured in the United States since 2002 and describes itself as the country’s leading PV solar technology and manufacturing company and the only one of the world’s largest solar manufacturers to be headquartered in the US.

A study commissioned by First Solar and conducted by the Kathleen Babineaux Blanco Public Policy Center at 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 US gross domestic product. The analysis projects that by 2027 the company will support more than 39,000 jobs and $4.0 billion in labor income and will contribute approximately $7.8 billion to US GDP. First Solar said the study’s findings rest on assumptions, estimates, and other data described in the report summarizing them.

One day before the ceremony, First Solar announced on October 27, 2026, that it would inaugurate the facility the following day and said the ribbon-cutting would be live streamed on the company’s X account beginning at 1 pm ET.