Solar manufacturer ES Foundry has joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Initiative for New Manufacturing (INM), committing $1.5 million over three years to the initiative.
The partnership aims to strengthen the U.S.’s manufacturing workforce in the solar and energy storage sector, ES Foundry officials. Additionally, the collaboration will bolster the company’s recent research into AI-driven efficiencies and advanced operating models “in an effort to ensure U.S. manufacturing remains globally competitive.”
“We have made a significant investment in bringing solar cell manufacturing back to the United States. This commitment to MIT’s Initiative for New Manufacturing is an investment in making that manufacturing stronger,” says ES Foundry CEO Alex Zhu. “We are operating at commercial scale every day, which gives us a very practical view of where technology, automation and workforce development can make a difference.
“Working with MIT gives us an opportunity to research solutions to manufacturing challenges and develop new ideas and approaches.”
Alongside strengthening the workforce, the partnership aims to close a glaring gap in the American solar supply chain: solar cells themselves. ES Foundry’s manufacturing facility, combined with the knowledge and workforce assistance of MIT’s new program, hopes to bridge the gap.
Building on the new building
In July 2026, ES Foundry completed a new expansion of its Greenwood, South Carolina manufacturing facility, adding 2 GW onto its annual capacity. In total, the expansion now supports more than 400 manufacturing jobs and brings the company’s total solar cell manufacturing capacity to over 3 GW per year.
“Manufacturing challenges become very real when you are running a factory 24 hours a day,” says Lionel Moss, general manager of operations for ES Foundry. “You are constantly looking at how to improve yield, productivity, equipment performance, processes and workforce capabilities. We have a lot to learn from the work happening at MIT, but we also have experiences from Greenwood that can contribute to that work. That exchange is what makes this collaboration valuable.”
The relationship between ES Foundry and MIT is designed to work bidirectionally, the company says. ES Foundry will draw on the bright young minds of MIT’s next generation, and the school will bring the experience of a national-level manufacturer to MIT’s initiative in return.
The company’s work within MIT’s INM program “builds on the company’s broader effort to establish a durable domestic solar cell manufacturing base,” representatives say. With production capacity booming for the firm throughout the U.S., the focus now is on making sure the country has the ability to continue improving its solar manufacturing processes.
“ES Foundry brings a valuable perspective to the Initiative for New Manufacturing,” says John Hart, Class of 1922 Professor, head of the MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering, and faculty co-director of the Initiative for New Manufacturing. “We’re excited to collaborate and we welcome ES Foundry to the INM community.”
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