The United States is producing heterojunction technology (HJT) solar cells for the first time, after Canadian Solar announced the official opening of the first 2.1-GW phase of its cell manufacturing facility in Jefferson, Indiana. The site, working under the CS PowerTech subsidiary name, will produce HJT cells that will be sent to Canadian Solar’s module assembly plant in Mesquite, Texas.
At full capacity, the facility is expected to produce more than 6 GW annually, support more than 1,200 jobs and represent nearly $1 billion in local investment.
“Jeffersonville is a cornerstone of our strategy to build one of North America’s most advanced energy manufacturing supply chains,” said Rusty Schmit, President of CS PowerTech. “This facility will produce next-generation HJT solar cells, support domestic manufacturing and ultimately strengthen grid reliability as our customers deploy the products. We are proud to invest in Indiana’s workforce and work with regional partners to build a long-term center of excellence for solar technology and advanced manufacturing.”
The Jeffersonville facility will ramp production to full capacity for phase one over the next few months and CS PowerTech expects to begin work on phase two expansion before the end of the year. Canadian Solar also plans to boost its Texas panel assembly capacity to 10 GW annually.
Canadian Solar is the first manufacturer operating in the United States to produce HJT cells. All other domestic cell manufacturers (Suniva, ES Foundry, Qcells) are producing n-type (either PERC or TOPCon) designs. A few panel assemblers say they are making HJT designs, but the cells are not domestic.
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