Solar

India’s largest solar manufacturer to open 3 GW PV factory in Texas

India’s largest solar manufacturer to open 3 GW PV factory in Texas
(Image by Sebastian Ganso from Pixabay)

Waaree Energies, India’s largest solar PV module manufacturer, announced it will establish its first U.S. manufacturing facility in the Houston, Texas area.

The facility, located in Brookshire, will have the initial capacity to manufacture 3 GW of solar modules annually by the end of 2024, the company said. Waaree plans to invest up to $1 billion over the next four years to scale its annual module manufacturing production to 5 GW by 2027.

“Most major components used in the manufacturing of these solar modules will be sourced domestically, enabled in part by the Inflation Reduction Act,” said Sunil Rathi, Board member of Waaree Solar Americas. “By setting up the new facility in the Houston area, Waaree brings critical technologies that will boost American solar production, reducing reliance on overseas sources while supporting strong U.S. jobs.”

Waaree will also construct an integrated solar cell facility on-site that is expected to be operational by 2025. In total, Waaree’s new operations are expected to create more than 1,500 total U.S. jobs when at full capacity, according to the company’s projections.

Although this will be its first production facility stateside, Waaree has previously supplied more than 4 GW of modules from its current Indian facility to U.S. customers.

GO DEEPER: Check out the Factor This! manufacturing playlist, including episodes on the U.S. solar manufacturing boom, thin-film manufacturing, and more. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Waaree says its U.S. expansion benefits from the long-term supply agreement with SB Energy, a climate infrastructure and technology platform with more than 2 GW of solar in operations, 1 GW in construction, and another 15 GW+ of solar and storage in development across the country. Waaree will supply multi-GWs of solar modules to SB Energy over the next five years through modules manufactured in the new Texas facility.

Increasing demand for solar modules, paired with supply chain constraints and trade disputes, have some new players eyeing the U.S. market. Some module manufacturers are building new factories to capitalize on fresh federal incentives to boost the domestic solar supply chain. Others are hoping to import their products into the United States.

Both have created a set of new, largely unknown entities for buyers to make sense of. According to some, standard certifications don’t go far enough to determine a module’s long-term performance and reliability, adding to the confusion.

For more, check out Episode 36 of the Factor This! podcast featuring Tristan Erion-Lorico, VP of sales and marketing for PV Evolution Labs. The firm helps manufacturers prove themselves to new markets and offers investors and asset owners an extra level of certainty over long-term performance.