U.S.-based solar module manufacturer First Solar will invest approximately $330 million to set up a 3.7 GW module manufacturing facility in Gaffney, South Carolina, to onshore the final production process for its Series 6 Plus modules, initiated by the company’s international fleet.

The manufacturing facility is expected to commence commercial operations by the second half of 2026.

First Solar said the South Carolina facility will directly support the demand for domestically produced energy technology created under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Budget Reconciliation Bill) this year.

This bill, signed on July 4, 2025, introduced sweeping changes to the U.S. energy policy landscape.

The Gaffney facility is projected to increase First Solar’s capacity to produce U.S.-made solar technology, fully compliant with the Foreign Entities of Concern guidelines, by 3.7 GW, to achieve an annual nameplate capacity of 17.7 GW by 2027. It stated that it will have a global annual nameplate capacity of about 25 GW by 2026.

The company has a distribution center in South Carolina’s town of Duncan.

First Solar has three vertically integrated manufacturing facilities in Ohio, as well as one each in Alabama and Louisiana, along with research and development (R&D) centers in Ohio and California.

The company stated that it would have invested approximately $4.5 billion in local manufacturing and R&D infrastructure since 2019, following the $330 million investment in Gaffney.

First Solar’s revenue rose 79.6% year-over-year to $1.59 billion in the third quarter (Q3) of 2025 from $887.67 million.

It delivered 5.3 GW of modules in Q3 2025. The company’s expected contracted backlog stands at 54.5 GW through 2030. The company manufactured 3.6 GW of modules in Q3 2025, with 2.5 GW coming from its U.S. facilities and 1.1 GW from its international facilities. It sold 11.8 GW of modules during the quarter.

Earlier this year, First Solar filed a lawsuit against JinkoSolar, a Shanghai-headquartered company, alleging patent infringement of its tunnel oxide passivated contact modules.