U.S. Congress to Pass Inflation Reduction Act of 2022
Hanwha Solutions is considering expanding its investment in the U.S. solar market as the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 through the U.S. Congress has become visible.
Hanwha Solutions announced in May that it would invest about 200 billion won in the United States to build a 1.4GW solar module plant.
The reason why Hanwha Solutions is considering expanding its investment is that it has recently become clear that the U.S. Congress will pass the inflation-fighting bill, which includes an investment of more than 480 trillion won over 10 years to respond to climate change and build related supply chains.
If Hanwha Solutions expand its investment, it will secure a module production capacity of at least 3.1GW and become the largest manufacturer in the United States. The company is already enjoying the No. 1 position in the U.S. solar module market. It also made an equity investment of about 250 billion won in REC Silicon for a more stable supply of polysilicon, which is used for produciton of solar panels.
Solar module prices have been on the rise, mainly in the United States and Europe, amid the prolonged unstable supply of fossil fuels since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukraine war and the expansion of renewable energy use in each country.
Hanwha Solutions is making large-scale investments in Korea as well to secure next-generation solar technology. About 180 billion won will be invested to produce TOPCon cells beginning from the first half of next year. TOPCon cells enhance power generation efficiency by about 1 percentage point compared to existing products. They are produced by inserting a thin oxide film into a cell based on an N-type wafer.