Speaking at the ribbon-cutting event to celebrate the expanded facility, held yesterday, Takahiko Onozuka, chairman and CEO of Toyo, said: “Completing our 2GW module expansion in Texas is an important milestone for Toyo, and cell manufacturing with HJT technology is our next step.”

Under secretary of commerce for industry and security Jeffrey Kessler attended the ceremony, and said that the expanded manufacturing plant fits into the current administration’s plans to incentive building new domestic manufacturing facilities.

“Toyo’s announcement is the direct result of the Trump administration’s bold policies to bring manufacturing and jobs back to America,” he said.

“At times in Washington it seems like we don’t agree on much,” added Texas Democratic congressman Christian Menefee (TX-18), who also attended the ceremony. “But we agree that onshoring is of the utmost importance. Building jobs and production right here in the US is crucial, and we get there through partnerships with allies doing the same work.”

Toyo was a target of the fifth investigation undertaken by the US government into AD/CVD (anti-dumping and countervailing duties) practices in the sector on 12 May. At the time, the company strongly rebuffed accusations of circumventing AD/CVD orders, which, it was claimed, was achieved by exporting assembled crystalline silicon (c-Si) PV modules and cells in Ethiopia that contained wafers originating in China.

The following day, Rhone Resch, chief strategy officer at Toyo Solar, told PV Tech : “Currently, all solar cells manufactured in Ethiopia use exclusively polysilicon supplied from the US and Malaysia, and our wafers are processed in Southeast Asia.”

Source link