Ebon Solar says it will invest $942 million in a solar cell factory in New Mexico, creating more than 900 jobs.
Ebon Solar, a Delaware-based solar cell manufacturing company, has said it will open a manufacturing facility in New Mexico. The US state, a center for advanced manufacturing, will now be home to an Ebon Solar facility.
The company will invest approximately $942 million in establishing the facility, which is expected to create 900 full-time jobs. The project is being developed in Albuquerque’s Mesa del Sol industrial development area.
The Albuquerque Regional Economic Alliance (AREA) served as a key project management partner during Ebon Solar’s market evaluation process, facilitating many site visits, interviews and data analysis of the region and site selection support.
“We are pleased to welcome Ebon Solar to the market; it not only represents a significant capital investment and new jobs for the community, but also aligns with PNM’s sustainability goals,” said Don Tarry, president and CEO of electric utility PNM and chairman of the AREA 2024 board of directors.
The Ebon Solar factory targets a critical early stage of the solar panel supply chain. Solar panels are made in a process from mining raw polysilicon, to refining them into blocks, cutting them into wafers, manufacturing them into cells, and finally being assembled as modules.
As module assembly plants open en masse across the United States, with total cumulative capacity growing 71% nationwide in the first quarter of 2024 alone, the need to address earlier stages of the chain is becoming clear. However, cell manufacturing and other early-stage manufacturing processes are quite expensive to build and operate, as evidenced by Ebon Solar’s nearly $1 billion price tag.
“Ebon Solar is proud to be an innovator in technologies that support renewable energy,” said Judy Cai, CEO of Ebon Solar. “Choosing Albuquerque for our investment aligns with our commitment to sustainable innovation, and New Mexico offers abundant solar energy resources, favorable renewable energy policies and a dedicated, skilled workforce.”
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