Silfab Solar‘s planned South Carolina manufacturing facility is being met with opposition months ahead of its slated operation date after years of litigation and appeals.
The Canadian-headquartered company plans to produce 1 GW of cells and add 1.3 GW of module capacity at the 785,000 square foot facility located in York County, South Carolina. Initially expected to open by the end of 2024, a spokesperson for Silfab Solar told pv magazine USA that the facility is on track to begin deliveries this quarter.
However, a school district may pay for an environmental evaluation out of concern about the location’s proximity to students. A district spokesperson said it is waiting for responses from two firms that could evaluate whether there are potential impacts, according to The Herald.
The environmental study comes after multiple lawsuits and groups opposing the facility tried to stop it and failed. For example, a judge issued a stay Jan. 29 in a lawsuit filed by the Citizens Alliance for Government Integrity and Fort Mill residents against Silfab, which argued the facility poses environmental and safety risks to nearby properties and schools.
Silfab and a coalition rallied by Moms for Liberty, a far-right organization disagree on whether the facility is a threat to the area due to hazardous materials. The facility is certified by the Environmental Protection Agency as having met all environmental and safety requirements.
The Fort Mills school district purchased adjacent land for the Flint Hill Elementary and Middle Schools in 2017 and 2020, when schools were permitted in light industrial zones at the time. However, in March 2022, the county revised its zoning codes and removed schools from areas zoned as light industrial. Eventually the district was granted zoning changes, enabling a school to be built adjacent to Silfab.
The two Flint Hill schools have not yet opened and one has yet to begin construction, however the facility is within a mile of other schools.
York County initially determined Silfab’s manufacturing facility was allowed in December 2022. The county did not have solar cell manufacturing named in its county code, so the city planners classified the facility under computer and electronics manufacturing, which the county’s zoning allows in light industrial areas. However, the York County Board of Zoning Appeals later voted unanimously to reverse this decision, stating that the facility should be considered heavy industrial, which falls under different zoning.
Silfab Solar was eventually allowed to proceed through a successful appeal to the board’s June 2024 decision that rezoning would not grandfather Silfab in.
Silfab contends the manufacturing facility is appropriately zoned for light industrial and safe to the community, as it does not include hazardous material treatment and storage facilities, plating, enameling, or petroleum and gas refining. Further details about Silfab’s stance are available here.
The opposition led to the introduction of HB 4293, a bill introduced last week that would nullify all permits issued for the development, construction and occupancy of property if it is rezoned and no longer in compliance with its new zoning. The bill is co-sponsored by former Moms for Liberty Chair Rep. Jackie Terribile. Further details about Move Silfab’s stance, the coalition opposing the facility, are available here.
(See also: How protectionism could undermine the revival of U.S. solar manufacturing)
The project was awarded a $2 million Set-Aside grant by the Coordinating Council for Economic Development in York County. The county awarded the tax break exchange for the 800 jobs it will bring, which Silfab said will start at $19 for hourly employees and $60,000 for salaried employees. Once the facility is fully staffed, Silfab said the 800 jobs will have an estimated $48 million in combined annual wages.
Silfab said the facility will generate $17 million in property taxes to Fort Mills Schools and about $4.7 million in property taxes to York County. According to its 2023 economic impact study, the facility will have a cumulative economic impact on York County projected to total nearly $1.3 billion by 2026.
(See also: Solar manufacturing moving onshore and prospering & The U.S. multi-pronged approach to onshoring solar manufacturing)
Silfab secured $100 million of new financing to scale its facility toward the end of last year and has signed offtake agreements for the 1 GW facility beginning this quarter. One such agreement is to supply 350 MW of commercial PV modules to Pivot Energy, which will be used to develop community solar projects throughout the United States. The facility also has an offtake agreement with Nexamp to supply 125 MW of modules.
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