Toyo Solar has unveiled plans to open a 2 GW solar panel factory in the United States and has filed to raise $100 million for a future tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar cell facility.
Based in Japan Toyo Solar said it plans to open a 2 GW solar module factory in the United States. The plan includes expansions to add cell and wafer production in the future.
The company said it plans to raise $100 million to support the plant. It expects a 70% return on investment in the first year of full production, based on US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) incentives and projected profits. The IRA offers $12 per square meter for solar wafers, $0.04/W for solar cells and $0.07/W for solar panels.
Toyo Solar forecasts a profit of $0.60/W for 1.4 GW of production in the first 12 months of operation, which would lead to a return of $84 million, according to a business presentation. It expects to begin production of U.S. solar modules in mid-2025, followed by U.S. solar cell production in the first half of 2026. The timeline for building a U.S. wafer slicing facility has yet to be determined.
“Toyo has one of the largest non-Chinese N-type cell manufacturing bases in the world,” Toyo Solar said. “During the first six months of 2024, 985 MW of Toyo cells were used primarily to power US projects.”
Toyo Solar makes TOPCon solar cells, which perform well in low light with a relative conversion efficiency of ≥ 97% under 200 W per square meter. These cells offer a high leading edge conversion efficiency of ≥ 25.3% and a bifacial efficiency of approximately 85% compared to the leading edge.
In the first six months of 2024, Toyo Solar had a production capacity of 3 GW, shipped 986 MW of solar cells and recorded a net income of $19.6 million.
The company went public in the United States following the combination of Vietnam Sunergy Cell Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyo, and Blue World Acquisition Corp. It started production at its plant in Vietnam in 2023 and has delivered 1.3 GW of solar cells to date. .
Toyo Solar said it plans to integrate the VSUN brand, credentials and U.S. sales channels into its own brand once mass production begins at its U.S. factory.
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