Canadian Solar revealed in its Q1 2026 financial results that it will increase its solar cell and panel manufacturing output in the United States. The company operates a 5-GW solar panel assembly facility in Mesquite, Texas, and is starting up a matching solar cell factory in Jeffersonville, Indiana.
Canadian Solar expects to expand the Texas panel factory to a 10-GW annual production capacity by the second half of this year.
After successfully trialing heterojunction technology (HJT) cell production in Indiana last month, Canadian Solar expects to reach 2.1 GW of annual production this year. Phase II of the cell factory will bring an additional 4.2 GW of capacity online next year to eventually reach 6.3 GW of annual cell production in the United States.
Canadian Solar expects to supply 6.5 to 7 GW of solar panels (from domestic and global manufacturing sites) to the U.S. market in 2026.
Long-time Canadian Solar executive Shawn Qu has transitioned the CEO role to Colin Parkin, who previously served as Canadian Solar’s president.
“The first half of the year reflects prevailing market challenges, with solar margins remaining under pressure. In our energy storage business, margins are normalizing, and we remain partially exposed to fluctuations in lithium carbonate pricing. These factors, combined with a broader backdrop of policy uncertainty and geopolitical volatility, continue to impact both customers’ long-term planning and our own operational execution,” Parkin said. “We anticipate stronger storage volumes and the benefits from the ramp-up of our U.S. domestic solar cell manufacturing to be weighted toward the second half, while our project development business continues to execute on its rebalancing strategy.”
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