After nearly a decade away, Suniva’s back in business. The Georgia-based solar cell maker restarted operations in late 2023 and resumed full commercial production in 2024. It’s a big comeback for a company that filed for bankruptcy in 2017 after cheap imports from Asia flooded the market.
Suniva filed for bankruptcy in 2017. Now, after nearly a decade away, it’s back in full commercial production.
Suniva was founded in 2007 as a spinout from research at Georgia Tech. The U.S. Department of Energy helped fund that early work. Now, federal manufacturing tax credits tied to the Inflation Reduction Act are helping the company get back on its feet.
The company’s factory is in Norcross, Georgia, near Atlanta. It makes high-efficiency monocrystalline silicon solar cells. Those cells are the building blocks that turn sunlight into electricity. In early 2025, Suniva shipped its first cells from that facility to Heliene, a Canadian-American solar module maker. The Georgia plant can produce 1 GW of solar cells per year.
But Suniva isn’t stopping there. The company’s planning a major new factory in Laurens, South Carolina. That facility will span 620,000 square feet and cost more than $350 million to build. It’s expected to produce 4.5 GW of solar cells annually. Commercial operations are set to begin in Q2 2027.
Once the South Carolina plant is up and running, Suniva’s combined U.S. capacity will top 5.5 GW per year. That would make it the largest merchant solar cell manufacturer in the country. Suniva also claims to be the only American-owned and American-operated merchant solar cell manufacturer in the United States.
The South Carolina expansion’s also expected to create 564 full-time jobs in Laurens County. Those roles will focus on advanced manufacturing and clean energy work.
Suniva’s growth comes as demand for American-made solar products is rising. Module makers need domestic solar cells to qualify for federal incentives. The U.S. already has over 65 GW of module manufacturing capacity, but upstream cell production has struggled to keep pace. According to company statements, a substantial portion of Suniva’s future output is already pre-sold through 2030.
The U.S. once had a thriving solar cell industry, but production largely faded as cheaper foreign alternatives took over. Suniva’s return signals that domestic manufacturing may be making a real comeback.
References
- https://electrek.co/2026/04/15/big-us-solar-cell-factory-south-carolina-suniva/
- https://taiyangnews.info/markets/suniva-new-45-gw-solar-cell-factory
- https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2026/04/14/suniva-to-build-4-5-gw-solar-cell-factory-in-south-carolina/
- https://whtc.com/2026/04/14/us-solar-cell-maker-suniva-investing-350-million-in-south-carolina-expansion/
