The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO) announced a provisional agreement for a loan guarantee of up to $1.45 billion, aimed at supporting Qcells’ awaited solar supply chain manufacturing plant in Cartersville, Georgia. Once finalised, the Loan Programs Office would assist Qcells in the construction of a facility dedicated to manufacturing the entire solar supply chain.
Furthermore, Qcells’ Cartersville facility will produce ingots, wafers, cells, and finished panels at a multi-gigawatt capacity. Qcells is investing over $2.5 billion to enhance domestic solar manufacturing and innovation, which will contribute to accelerating the clean energy transition in US. Altogether, Qcells’ domestic manufacturing investments total $2.8 billion.
While this conditional commitment reflects the DOE’s intention to finance the project, the company must meet specific technical, legal, environmental, and financial requirements before the Department can finalise the financing agreements and disburse the loan. Georgia is expected to reach a solar energy capacity of 8.4 GW by the end of this year, which would be sufficient to power nearly 1.3 million homes annually.
