[Report] Changing the US Solar Industry... Hanwha's 'SolarHub' Stands Tall

Hanwha Solutions Cartersville and Dalton Plants in Georgia

Establishment of Integrated Value Chain from Ingots to Modules

Introduction of Smart Factory Technology for Productivity Improvement

On the 11th (local time), the construction site in Cartersville, Georgia, USA, reached after driving northwest for about an hour and a half from Atlanta, was bustling with activity. Cranes loaded with equipment moved up and down amidst the ochre dust, while bulldozers worked nearby to compact the soil. The site area was approximately 332 acres (1.3 million square meters, about 400,000 pyeong), nearly half the size of Yeouido (870,000 pyeong).

Hanwha Solutions Q CELLS Division Solar Hub Factory in Cartersville, Georgia, USA (Photo by Hanwha Solutions)

Simultaneous factory construction was underway throughout the site. Excavation work began in March, and currently about 450 workers and 80 heavy machinery units are deployed daily. The hills, once covered in green foliage, have taken the shape of a solar power plant after seven months of construction. As of the end of September, the progress rate was 17%, and by the end of this year, Hanwha Solutions Q CELLS' North American integrated solar power production complex, 'Solar Hub,' will be established here.

Hanwha Solutions plans to start module production at Solar Hub in April next year. The solar module production capacity in the U.S. for Hanwha Solutions, which recorded 1.7 GW in the first half of this year, will increase nearly fivefold to approximately 8.4 GW. It will be the largest silicon module production facility in North America. With 8.4 GW of modules, it can produce enough electricity to power 1.3 million U.S. households for one year. Notably, Solar Hub will be capable of producing everything from ingots to wafers, cells, and modules.

The raw material polysilicon is supplied by REC Silicon located in Washington State, and materials such as EVA sheets are supplied by Hanwha Advanced Materials, which is building a factory near Cartersville. This establishes Hanwha Group's independent solar value chain within the U.S.

Hanwha Solutions Q CELLS Division Solar Hub Factory in Cartersville, Georgia, USA (Photo by Hanwha Solutions)

The background enabling the rapid construction of the Cartersville plant is the Hanwha Solutions Dalton plant. Located about 30 minutes by car from Cartersville in the Carbondale Business Park, the Dalton plant has been mass-producing modules since February 2019. The second plant began operations in July.

Dalton Plant 1 produces 4,300 modules daily across three production lines, totaling 13,000 modules. Plant 2, equipped with four production lines and about 30 autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), increased production to 4,900 modules through automation. The know-how gained from simultaneous production and expansion at the Dalton plant is being applied to the Cartersville plant, aiming to produce about 15,000 modules across three lines.

Seongju Ryu, Head of Manufacturing for Hanwha Solutions Q CELLS in the U.S., said, "The Cartersville plant is a state-of-the-art production base that consolidates Hanwha's over 10 years of solar industry operational know-how. We will establish the only integrated solar value chain in the U.S. and contribute to energy security and carbon neutrality."

A worker is conducting the final quality inspection of module products at Hanwha Solutions Q CELLS division's second plant in Dalton, Georgia, USA. (Photo by Hanwha Solutions)

Market research firm Wood Mackenzie forecasts that U.S. solar installation demand will continuously increase from 19 GW in 2022 to 28 GW in 2023, 33 GW in 2024, 39 GW in 2025, and 44 GW in 2026.

Hanwha Solutions plans to strengthen local production and sales centered on Solar Hub to lead the explosively growing U.S. solar market. Furthermore, to increase added value, the company intends not only to produce solar equipment but also to engage in power generation project development, turnkey (design and construction) supply, and financial services.

Dong-kwan Kim, Vice Chairman of Hanwha, is known to have shaped the business structure from the early stages of entering the solar market with the direction of providing integrated solutions and has consistently supported this approach. Although there were doubts within the company during the early stages, Vice Chairman Kim steadily pushed forward despite losses, resulting in the current business model.

Heung-kwon Park, Head of North American Business for Hanwha Solutions Q CELLS, said, "Q CELLS started as a solar panel business, but it is no longer just a panel manufacturer. Rather than competing on price with Chinese products, we will take responsibility for stable supply and expand our business areas by engaging in power plant development and capital investment."

A worker is inspecting solar cells at Hanwha Solutions Q CELLS division's Dalton Plant 1 in Georgia, USA. (Photo by Hanwha Solutions)

Hanwha Solutions US Solar Hub Establishment Roadmap

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.