Enel North America, through its affiliate 3Sun USA, has officially chosen the location for its 3-GW solar cell and panel manufacturing facility: Inola, Oklahoma.
Credit: Enel
The 2-million-ft2 factory is expected to support 1,000 new jobs and begin producing modules by the end of 2024. Enel is investing $1 billion into the factory, and construction should begin in the fall of 2023. The project includes the potential for a second phase that would scale the factory to reach 6 GW of annual production, creating an additional 900 new direct jobs.
“We are proud to help usher in a new era of American-made energy and do so with a state that is already a leader in the energy industry. Our selection of Oklahoma is a testament to the strength of the Tulsa Port of Inola site, the state’s commitment to workforce development, and an attractive investment climate,” said Giovanni Bertolino, head of 3Sun USA.
The solar factory will be located in Tulsa Port of Inola, a 2,500-acre industrial park with access to rail and barge transportation. The planned factory will produce bifacial heterojunction technology (HJT) solar cells and modules. 3Sun will join Qcells and Silfab as the only American silicon solar cell manufacturers, once all three factories are completed.
3Sun has been producing high-efficiency cells for a few years in Catania, Italy, and the European factory will switch to HJT production later this year. The company is also working on next-generation tandem cell technology.
“Tulsa Ports is proud to welcome Enel’s 3Sun solar panel manufacturing facility to the Tulsa Port of Inola. At the end of 2019, Public Service Company of Oklahoma transferred 2,200 acres of industrial land to Tulsa Ports so that we could develop the necessary infrastructure to attract high-impact economic development projects. With this exciting announcement, we are continuing to fulfill that shared vision and believe that Enel will be a great partner for the long-term economic success and development of the Tulsa Region and the State of Oklahoma,” commented Dewey F. Bartlett, Jr., Board Chairman of Tulsa Ports.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm also applauded Enel’s investment in Oklahoma and American manufacturing.
“President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is making our nation a powerhouse for clean energy manufacturing — and today’s exciting announcement by Enel proves that once again,” she said in a statement. “With its new Oklahoma facility, Enel is taking a winning bet on America and the diverse workers of the Sooner State who will build solar panels proudly stamped ‘Made in the U.S.A.’ helping to power the nation through the 21st century, just as they’ve powered us through the last one.”
President Biden also released a statement:
Because of my Inflation Reduction Act, private capital is being invested in Oklahoma and all across the country, as communities step up to help build our clean energy economy. These new investments should be an investment not just in manufacturing, but also in our middle class. Companies like Enel have the opportunity to hire the most highly skilled, dedicated, and engaged workers in the world — American union members. While Republicans in Congress try to defund our Investing in America agenda, we will stand with working families to keep those jobs here in states like Oklahoma. We’ll continue to bring every community along to participate in America’s manufacturing renaissance, powered by American workers, and we won’t let any community be left behind.
It is a good development when PV panels can be built in Oklahoma. That means they can be built most anywhere and not need a highly specialized labor force. 3 GW of solar will generate 0.1% of US electricity. The next year’s production will make 0.2%. Each year of production will generate as much electricity as burning 2.2 million tons of coal/year. It all adds up. Over a 25 year panel life, each year’s 3 GW production will generate as much electricity as burning 55 million tons of coal which would produce 200 millions tons of CO2. All that using photons delivered fresh daily.
“3Sun has been producing high-efficiency cells for a few years in Catania, Italy, and the European factory will switch to HJT production later this year. The company is also working on next-generation tandem cell technology.”
They might want to be ‘mindful’ that First Solar has been doing “effective” cheap CdTe cells for at least 20 years and are also chasing tandem solar PV cells in their current manufacturing line offerings sooner or later. Crystalline Silicon wafer to finished cell manufacturing can’t compete with the energy input required to make their solar PV crystalline panels compared to First Solar’s thin film panels. 3Sun’s announcement of HJT ‘bifacial’ panels may be a saving grace in the long run or maybe not when price is added into the product’s overall amortization period.