ICYMI: President Biden's Manufacturing Boom Continues to Spur Investments and Create Local Jobs as Solar Manufacturer Q CELLS Announces Expansion in Georgia

Today, Hanwha Q CELLS, a solar manufacturing company, announced that thanks to the President's economic plan and the Inflation Reduction Act it will expand its manufacturing in Georgia. This is already one the largest solar manufacturing investment in U.S. history.

Clean energy manufacturing announcements in Georgia are creating thousands of good-paying jobs making solar panels and components here at home which will lower the cost of clean energy and help us combat the climate crisis.

While President Biden continues his focus on creating good-paying jobs and tackling the climate crisis, extreme MAGA House Republicans are focused on proposals that will defund historic investments in America by shipping manufacturing jobs overseas and undermining American workers.

See coverage below:

Atlanta Journal Constitution: Solar parts supplier for Qcells building $147M Cartersville plant
[Drew Kann, 3/23/23]

Qcells has said the passage of President Joe Biden's signature climate change and health care law — known as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) — last year helped spur their new investment in Georgia. The votes of Georgia's two Democratic U.S. senators — Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock — were key to the bill's passage in a narrowly divided upper chamber, and Ossoff wrote several of the law's solar provisions.

In a statement on HAGA's plant, Biden connected the dots between the IRA and the new investment in Georgia. The IRA provides $10 billion in tax credits for building new solar manufacturing facilities, plus billions more for manufacturers to make components for solar panels, batteries, and wind turbines in the U.S., among a host of other clean energy incentives.

"With the support of Senators Warnock and Ossoff and Georgia House Democrats, clean energy manufacturing announcements in Georgia are creating thousands of good-paying jobs making solar panels and components here at home and tackling the climate crisis," Biden said in a statement.

Atlanta Business Chronicle: Qcells supplier to invest $147 million into Cartersville facility
[Amy Wenk, 3/23/23]

A supplier of solar panel giant Qcells will invest $147 million in a new Cartersville manufacturing facility, boosting the state's place as a leading clean energy hub.

Hanwha Advanced Materials Georgia Inc. (HAGA) will create 160 jobs at the project, according to state officials. It will produce materials used in solar cells. The factory will support Qcells' planned 3.3-gigawatt plant in Cartersville, the first in the U.S. to build silicon solar panels from raw materials.

Georgia has been a magnet for clean tech investment. According to a February report, Georgia was leading the nation in new projects since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. The federal climate legislation provides billions in tax incentives.

"Qcells announcement to expand its manufacturing in Georgia — already the largest solar manufacturing investment in U.S. history — is the direct result of my economic plan," President Joe Biden said in a statement. "With the support of Senators [Raphael] Warnock and [Jon] Ossoff and Georgia House Democrats, clean energy manufacturing announcements in Georgia are creating thousands of good-paying jobs making solar panels and components here at home and tackling the climate crisis."

Bloomberg News: US Solar Capacity Gets Boost From $147 Million Hanwha Plant
[Will Wade, 3/23/23]

Hanwha Solutions Corp. plans to spend $147 million on a plant in Georgia that supplies material for panels, drawing cheers from President Joe Biden who credits his climate law for jumpstarting efforts to build a solar supply chain in the US.

Its Hanwha Advanced Materials Georgia unit expects the facility to go into production in June 2024, according to a statement Thursday. It will supply encapsulant film that sister company Hanwha Qcells will use at a nearby site.

Qcells announced in January plans for a $2.3 billion solar factory in Georgia that will produce wafers, cells and panels and another $200 million to expand an existing factory in the state. The plant will be the only US facility making solar encapsulant film. The US is seeking to boost domestic solar manufacturing to reduce the country's dependence on imported panels. The Hanwha units are taking advantage of generous incentives offered through Biden's landmark climate law, which has led to a wave of similar announcements for new plants.