First Solar South Carolina Plant Opens 1.7 GW Phase

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes · Last updated: 31 October 2026

First Solar, Inc. has opened the first 1.7 GW phase of its module factory in Gaffney, Cherokee County, South Carolina. The plant is part of a $330 million investment that moves the last stages of photovoltaic module production from the company's overseas fleet onto US soil. A company release says the site should reach 3.4 GW of annual nameplate capacity when it is finished in mid-2027. The line produces Series 6 Plus modules, thin-film panels built from cadmium telluride rather than crystalline silicon and designed for utility-scale projects. Chief executive Mark Widmar opened the First Solar South Carolina plant at a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The company says the project is on track to support nearly 700 jobs, and about 500 have reportedly been filled.

Less than a year after we selected Gaffney, this facility is ready to produce American solar technology, built by South Carolinian workers.

Mark Widmar, CEO, First Solar

Why First Solar Is Finishing Modules in Gaffney

The Gaffney plant is a finishing operation. First Solar is using the $330 million to bring the final production steps for modules home from its international factories, so panels destined for American customers are completed in the United States.

The build is split in two. The 1.7 GW now operating is half of the 3.4 GW the company expects once the site is complete in mid-2027, which leaves about 1.7 GW still to come online over the next several months.

Speed is the point Widmar chose to stress at the ceremony. He said the plant was ready to produce less than a year after the company chose Gaffney, and he credited policy, state and local partners and the workforce for that pace. That timeline is the company's own account, and the second phase is still a forecast rather than a finished line.

How CuRe Replaces Copper in Cadmium Telluride Cells

Cadmium telluride, or CdTe, is a semiconductor that can be laid down as a thin film, an alternative to the crystalline silicon wafers that dominate most solar panels. First Solar builds its utility-scale Series 6 Plus modules on it, and the company rates each one at up to 480 watts.

The engineering problem is copper. A study by First Solar and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory found that CdTe cells have traditionally used copper to create the electric field that collects solar energy. Copper moves quickly through the layers of the cell, and that migration wears the cell down over its life.

CuRe, short for copper replacement, is First Solar's answer. It swaps copper for Group V elements, which the company regards as more stable, with the goal of slowing power loss over the long term. Earlier Series 6 modules are already in the field, including an array at the Penta Career Center campus in Perrysburg, Ohio.

Is Domestic Thin Film a Hedge Against Supply Bottlenecks?

Widmar's central claim is that every Gaffney module avoids reliance on crystalline silicon supply chains in countries such as China. Because CdTe panels do not use silicon wafers, that argument rests on the chemistry as much as on where the factory sits. He framed it against rising electricity demand in the United States.

Wood Mackenzie, the research firm, has pointed to a related risk for the wider market. A Foreign Entity of Concern, or FEOC, is a supplier whose ownership or location rules it out under US restrictions. Wood Mackenzie expects that sourcing components without FEOC ties could become a serious bottleneck over the next two to four years, given a large imbalance in the US clean energy transition.

First Solar leaders tie the investment to the current administration's trade policy and to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which backs President Donald Trump's goals of American energy dominance and affordability. That alignment is the company's own reading. How the policy plays out for module demand is a separate question.

Jobs and a Wider South Carolina Footprint

The company says the plant is on track to support nearly 700 jobs. About 500 positions have reportedly been filled already, which suggests roughly 200 hires remain as the second phase is built out.

Gaffney is not First Solar's first site in the state. The company already runs a distribution center in Duncan, Spartanburg County. It also has a long-running supply chain partnership with Inland Port Greer, an intermodal rail facility operated by the South Carolina Ports Authority. The new factory adds manufacturing to a logistics base that was already in place.

The national picture is larger. First Solar forecasts about 17 GW of US module manufacturing capacity by the end of this year, and says none of it will depend on Chinese crystalline silicon supply chains. Gaffney is a modest slice of that total, but it puts final assembly close to the customers the company is targeting.

What could help or hurt the Gaffney build

The bottom line

Gaffney gives First Solar a working 1.7 GW finishing line and a plan to double it to 3.4 GW by mid-2027. The case for the plant rests on two arguments. The first is technical: CuRe swaps copper for Group V elements to slow degradation in cadmium telluride cells. The second is political and commercial: modules with no link to Chinese crystalline silicon, at a time when Wood Mackenzie expects FEOC-free sourcing to tighten. The first phase has opened, while the second phase, the remaining hires and the 17 GW national forecast are still company projections. The milestones in December 2026 and mid-2027 will show whether the pace Widmar described holds up.

What to watch

• Watch whether First Solar reaches its forecast of about 17 GW of US module manufacturing capacity by the end of December 2026.
• Watch for the second phase at Gaffney, which would take the plant to 3.4 GW if it is completed on schedule in mid-2027.
• Watch whether Wood Mackenzie's warning about FEOC-free component sourcing becomes a real bottleneck within its two-to-four-year window; no specific date has been set.