Suniva has announced the completion of an $835 million capital raise as it continues the buildout of a new 4.5 GW facility inside a 620,000 square-foot building currently under construction in Laurens County, South Carolina.
The infusion of capital includes both debt and equity financing, consisting of senior secured credit facilities provided by funds managed by Goldman Sachs Alternatives and I Squared Capital, a second lien credit facility provided by JBA Asset Management, and equity investments by Electron Capital Partners, Orion Infrastructure Capital (OIC), and Rubric Capital Management, among others.
“As the only U.S.-owned solar cell manufacturer at commercial scale, we believe Suniva is uniquely well positioned in the market,” said Suniva CEO Tony Etnyre, in a statement. “We look forward to helping the United States and the Administration achieve its important goal of U.S. energy independence.”
The new facility will bring the company’s annual production capacity to 5.5 GW, including its existing 1 GW facility in Norcross, Georgia. In a 2023 announcement, Suniva said it would expand the Norcross facility to 3.5 GW in capacity, but the plan for the new South Carolina facility seems to have superseded the Georgia expansion
Suniva says the new facility is expected to open in late 2027, with production ramping toward full capacity in 2028. The company expects the project to cost $600 million total, and the facility is expected to require 564 manufacturing workers when fully operational.
“With the addition of 564 jobs in advanced manufacturing and energy, Suniva’s commitment to this major expansion in the Palmetto State will create new opportunities for our workforce and help bolster energy independence in the United States,” said South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster. “This investment strengthens our commitment to innovative energy solutions, and we are proud of Suniva’s continued success in Laurens County.”
The expansion announcement comes at a time when the domestic solar manufacturing space is grappling with the effects of the recently-announced Section 232 trade action.
The price floor and tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration have already caused the price of finished solar modules to jump up to levels not seen since the turmoil surrounding the 2023 anti-circumvention inquiry into companies operating in Southeast Asia.
The minimum import price for solar cells under the trade action is set at 22 cents per watt, with ad valorem tariffs of 15% added on top. The high price floor could make it more profitable for solar cell manufacturers like Suniva to produce cells domestically, and the company’s new 4.5 GW facility will position them to capitalize on trade policy as it stands.
In the announcement of its new facility, Suniva said the expansion is “de-risked by a domestic supply chain already in place and by long-term product offtake agreements with leading U.S. solar players for the majority of its planned future production.”
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