Georgia’s clean energy ecosystem is about to get bigger.
On Thursday, Gov. Brian Kemp’s office announced Solarcycle, which recycles solar panel components, plans to build a glass manufacturing plant in Cedartown, about 60 miles northwest of Atlanta. The $344 million solar glass complex will employ more than 600 full-time staffers, a news release said.
“There is no question that solar panel manufacturing is booming in the state of Georgia,” Solarcycle CEO and Co-founder Suvi Sharma said in the release. “We are thrilled to join the team and build our recycled solar glass plant in Cedartown, which will bring hundreds of good-paying jobs to Georgia and help the industry in its goals to build fully American-made clean energy solutions.”
The facility will rise in Cedartown North Business Park along U.S. 27. Information about incentives offered to Solarcycle was not immediately available, but it is likely the company qualifies for tax credits for newly created jobs, among other inducements.
Thursday’s announcement is the second major one made by Solarcycle this week. On Monday, Solarcycle announced a partnership with Qcells, a huge maker of solar panels with facilities in Dalton and one under construction in Bartow County. Solarcycle plans to work with Qcells to keep components from damaged or decommissioned panels out of landfills and instead reuse much of the material for new panels.
Solarcycle operates recycling facilities in Texas and Arizona and uses patented technology that it says can allow the company “to extract up to 95% of the value from used solar panels” for reuse in the solar manufacturing supply chain.
At its future Polk County facility, Solarcycle said it will make specialized glass for crystalline-silicon photovoltaics and sell it back to panel-makers in the U.S. The company said it will be able to produce up to 6 gigawatts worth of solar glass annually.
The facility will be the first from Solarcycle that will produce glass and also recycle panel components.
“Solarcycle’s first-of-its-kind facility is a transformational investment for the Polk County community and will help drive its economy for years to come,” Kemp said in the release. “In Georgia, our strong energy mix is one of the key reasons our state has attracted generational investments in recent years. We will keep working to secure our power supply through exciting projects like this one.”
Solarcycle’s partnership with Qcells will make solar manufacturing more sustainable, the companies have said, by keeping waste out of landfills and returning usable material to the supply chain.
Solar is the fastest-growing source of new clean energy in the U.S. But what to do with aging solar panels after they need to be replaced is one challenge for the industry. Without recycling, decommissioned solar installations could produce 170,000 to 1 million tons of waste in the U.S. by 2030, according to one estimate.
Plant updates and information about jobs will be available online at www.solarcycle.us/careers.
