U.S. solar module provider Mission Solar announced that through its parent company, OCI Holdings, will invest $265 million to add a 2 GW solar cell manufacturing facility to its San Antonio, Texas campus.
Mission plans to produce 1 GW of cells by Q1 2026, planning “to ultimately secure a total production capacity of 2GW,” according to a statement by OCI Holdings.
The company said it will manufacture solar cells domestically using polysilicon from Malaysian OCI TerraSus, a subsidiary of OCI Holdings that uses hydropower to power its polysilicon manufacturing operations.
The United States solar industry is pursuing an independent solar manufacturing supply chain, but cell manufacturing remains a critically underserved leg. Suniva is currently producing cells in Georgia with a 1 GW annual capacity. ES Foundry recently began manufacturing cells in South Carolina, with an initial capacity of 1 GW. Meanwhile, domestic solar module assembly grew 190% from 14.5 GW at the end of 2023 to 52.3 GW capacity online in 2025, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).
“As our nation experiences a resurgence in American manufacturing, we are expanding our capabilities to deliver fully domestic solar solutions,” said Sam Martens, president of Mission Solar Energy. “Bringing solar cell production to our facility underscores our commitment to U.S. manufacturing, job creation, and a transparent, ethical supply chain.”
Mission Solar completed a 200,000 square-foot facility expansion in May 2024 of its San Antonio factory, creating space to house a cell and module production facility. The company expects the cell fab to create 500 long-term manufacturing jobs.
The U.S.-based solar cell manufacturing business is expected to benefit from the Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit (AMPC) under the Inflation Reduction Act, which offers a tax credit of $0.04 per watt. Additionally, solar projects that meet a threshold of U.S. domestic content are eligible for an additional 10% Investment Tax Credit (ITC).
OCI Holdings reports that the Malaysian-made polysilicon from OCI TerraSus has a fully-traceable supply chain that is U.S. Customs and UFLPA-compliant.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.