Hanwha Solutions announced on Oct. 17 that it will expand its module production capacity in the United States, which was 1.7 gigawatts (GW) in the first half of this year, to 8.4 GW by the first half of next year, a five-fold increase.
This makes it the largest capacity for a solar company producing silicon cell-based panels in North America, accounting for half of the solar power generation installed across the United States last year. In U.S. terms, it's enough to power 1.3 million households for a year.
After increasing production at the existing Dalton 1 plant with a capacity of 1.7 GW, Hanwha Solutions expanded the Dalton 2 plant with a capacity of 3.4 GW in Georgia, beginning mass production in July. Considering the ongoing construction of the Cartersville plant in Georgia, with a module production capacity of 3.3 GW, the company’s total module production capacity in the United States will increase to 8.4 GW when module production starts in Cartersville.
Once Cartersville's ingot, wafer, and cell factories are sequentially operational, Hanwha Solutions will become the first company in North America to complete the entire solar core value chain.
Meanwhile, Hanwha Solutions anticipates annual benefits of approximately 1 trillion won (US$737.46 million) from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) due to the expansion of its solar factories in the North American region. In the case of modules, an incentive of 7 cents per watt (W) is provided. Hanwha Solutions has already reflected tax deduction benefits of 22.9 billion won (US$16.89 million) in the first quarter and 27.9 billion won (US$20.58 million) in the second quarter in its operating profit this year.
Furthermore, the IRA introduces various tax benefits in addition to AMPC. Notably, there's the Investment Tax Credit (ITC), where you can receive tax deduction benefits amounting to 30 percent of the investment in renewable energy facilities like solar. To strengthen domestic manufacturing capabilities, an additional 10 percent tax deduction is provided when using components produced in the United States when constructing solar power facilities.