Canadian Solar plans to build a manufacturing plant in Mesquite this year that is expected to create 1,500 new jobs and produce up to 20,000 state-of-the-art solar photovoltaic panels per day.
The manufacturing facility is part of a $250 million investment by the Ontario-based company and is their first such facility in the United States. Canadian Solar also has manufacturing operations in Canada, China, Brazil, Thailand and Vietnam.
In a statement released earlier this month, Canadian Solar said the Mesquite facility could churn out 20,000 TOPCon solar cell panels daily for an estimated annual output of 5 GW.
Production is expected to begin in Mesquite by the end of the year.
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U.S. Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX, District 32) said the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act was instrumental in landing the facility in North Texas.
"The Inflation Reduction Act was designed to incentivize projects just like this and I am proud that Canadian Solar chose Mesquite to build this facility," Allred said. "Texas is already a leader in wind energy, and this manufacturing plant will help us take the lead in solar production."
"Texas has the best workers and we are ready to lead the next generation of solar manufacturing," Allred said.
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Dr. Shawn Qu, founder and CEO of Canadian Solar, hoped the Mesquite facility would be the first of many investments the company made in the United States.
"Establishing this factory is a key milestone that will enable us to better serve our U.S. customers with the most advanced technology in the industry. We hope that this is the first of many long-term investments we expect to make in the U.S. as we think strategically about a sustainable and resilient clean energy supply chain," Qu said. "We thank the State of Texas, Dallas County, and the City of Mesquite for their critical support and we look forward to working with them as we grow."
The Mesquite plant is not the company's first move into Texas. In 2021, Canadian Solar relocated its 17-year-old U.S. subsidiary, Recurrent Energy, to Austin, "spearheading the rapid growth of renewable energy in the Lone Star State as a solar and battery storage project developer."
