Dive Brief:
- Solar panel maker Qcells and Microsoft have expanded their solar energy supply deal, the South Korea-based company announced Monday.
- Qcells will supply Microsoft with 12 GW of solar modules and engineering, procurement and construction services over eight years, according to the press release. The deal also includes the supply of 2.5 GW of solar panels first agreed to last January as part of an earlier deal.
- Qcells’ upcoming solar supply chain factory in Cartersville, Georgia, will supply the solar modules. The plant is expected to produce 3.3 GW of solar ingots, wafers, cells and finished panels a year.
Dive Insight:
The expanded agreement is part of the two companies’ goal to diversify the global solar module supply chain and expand sustainable manufacturing in the sector, according to a January 2023 release when Microsoft and Qcells announced that they had formed a strategic alliance. It could provide enough energy to power 1.8 million homes annually over the course of the deal.
“We’re striving to build and deliver turnkey clean energy solutions, including those made in America, and this partnership with Microsoft will help accomplish this vision,” Qcells CEO Justin Lee said in a statement last January.
Microsoft is committed to going carbon-negative by 2030 and aims to achieve 100% electricity consumption coverage with renewable energy by 2025.
“Our expanded agreement with Qcells is designed to drive large-scale domestic production of solar modules essential to advancing a resilient U.S. supply chain and clean energy economy,” Bobby Hollis, vice president, energy, Microsoft, said in a statement. “Through long-term agreements like this we are signaling Microsoft’s demand and bringing more renewable energy to the grid, faster.”
Meanwhile, Qcells, a subsidiary of manufacturing conglomerate Hanwha, is working on building out its solar supply chain in the U.S. Last year, the company announced it was investing over $2.5 billion to build a new plant in Cartersville and expand its facility in Dalton, Georgia. In October, the solar panel maker opened its expanded solar module factory in Dalton, adding 2 GW of solar capacity to the plant.
In March, Qcells solar supplier Hanwha Advanced Materials Georgia announced plans to build a $147 million manufacturing facility in Cartersville. The upcoming factory will provide Qcells film materials that will bind solar cells.
