Create Energy has announced a major expansion of its operations in Tennessee that includes a newly-acquired 338,000-square-foot building and a $78 million investment that the company says will result in 1,003 new jobs at two sites.
The company said the new building will host 973 of the jobs and serve as its primary manufacturing hub for renewable energy technologies, which include solutions for solar, battery storage, and electric vehicle charging installations.
Create was joined in its announcement by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and Deputy Governor Stuart C. McWhorter.
“Today’s announcement underscores what world-class companies like Create Energy already know – Tennessee is the best place to live, work and raise a family,” said Lee. “I’m grateful for Create Energy’s investment in our highly skilled workforce and proud to announce their expansion that will create greater opportunity for more than 1,000 Tennessee families.”
With the expansion, the company says its existing facility in Portland, Tennessee will become a welcome center, dedicated research and development (R&D) hub and a production site for global partnership products.
The company said it will invest $2 million into the Portland facility and create 30 jobs as a result. The move will bring the company’s total footprint in the region to more than 475,000 square feet.
Recent strategic acquisitions
The expansion follows several recent strategic moves by Create Energy and its founder, Dean Solon — who previously founded Shoals Technologies Group — to localize the solar supply chain.
“I’m proud of what we’re cranking out here at Create Energy: real growth, real jobs, and the newest, coolest energy products the world wants,” said Solon. “We have a wave of major initiatives underway, and with our active presence in the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market, there’s much more on the horizon.”
The company has indeed been active. In late 2025, it announced an agreement with SMA Solar Technology to manufacture string inverters and a partnership with Stäubli to produce specialized solar connectors in the Portland facility.
In early 2026, Create announced it had acquired assets from autonomous mower company Graze Robotics.
In comments to pv magazine USA, Solon explained that vegetation management is among the most difficult tasks in large-scale PV plant management because terrain and environmental conditions make it extraordinarily difficult for human laborers to do the kind of regular, precise work necessary to keep sites in prime condition.
The acquisitions and partnerships feed into the Create Energy ecosystem of products, which is designed as a “one-stop-shop” of renewable energy hardware that can reduce labor costs and improve system reliability through pre-wired and integrated components.
The Tennessee Valley has seen a surge in clean energy manufacturing investments in recent years. This trend is driven in part by federal incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act, which provides production tax credits for U.S.-made solar components.
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More “energy” businesses are running to the o’biden money set aside for green new deals.
I’m fairly certain this will be another bust like the 1.2 billion spent at the Hemlock Semiconductor’s polysilicon plant in Clarksville, TN.
In the end the taxpayer will be on the hook for these green initiatives well into the future. Why bilk the populace out of billions in tax dollars and subsidies for technolgy that will be obsolete before the plant is even completed? Oh yeah, kickbacks going out to the pigliticians. As if they aren’t already wealthy enough!