The Japan-based company is quickening its manufacturing plans in the country as it anticipates a potential global trade tariff increase on solar module imports.

Toyo Solar's Vietnam solar cell facility. The Japan-based company is expanding to the U.S. with two 2-gigawatt factories that are expected to start construction in Q4. Courtesy of Vsun Solar

Dive Brief:

Toyo Solar has plans to build 2-gigawatt photovoltaic solar module and 2 GW cell plant facilities in the U.S. with construction expected for Q4, according to a securities filing. The Japan-based company plans to raise $100 million for the projects and benefit from the Inflation Reduction Tax benefits, according to its earnings presentation. The rapid manufacturing expansion to the U.S. comes as the company faces global trade investigations for its facility in Vietnam, according to its H1 earnings release.

Dive Insight:

Toyo Solar only recently went public in the U.S. on July 2 after it completed combining Vietnam Sunergy Cell Co., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Toyo, and Blue World Acquisition Corp.

The company started operations at its first manufacturing facility in Vietnam in October 2023 and has delivered 1.3 GW of solar cells to customers so far. Phase two of construction is set to begin later this year, per the securities filing.

Yet the expansion to the U.S. comes after headwinds regarding foreign-based trading in the solar industry. At the beginning of 2024, annual shipments for solar modules were expected to reach 2.5 GW based on the demands of solar utilities, primarily in the U.S., according to the company release.

Due to a U.S. trade investigation involving solar manufacturers located in Southeast Asia, including Toyo Solar's Vietnam facility, the company and its major clients decided to reduce shipment volumes until preliminary investigation results are released, which are expected between September and November. As a result, Toyo Solar anticipates delivering over 1.9 GW of orders for the full year 2024, according to the release.

In June, the International Trade Commission advanced a tariff petition of seven U.S. solar manufacturers, including Qcells and First Solar, asking the agency to impose new antidumping and countervailing duties on some solar cell imports from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

If the tariffs are implemented, it would increase Southeast Asia all-in module cost from 24 cents per watt to 40 cents per watt, Clean Energy Associates report found.

"To address this situation, we are accelerating plans to build out our U.S. manufacturing presence while increasing shipments to customers based in India, the Middle East, and other markets," the Toyo release stated. "Our strategy to build an integrated value chain in North America serving our U.S. customers remains unchanged, and we will continue to observe and adapt to dynamic industry conditions."

Toyo Solar to build US solar factory

Toyo Solar plans to construct two 2-gigawatt facilities for photovoltaic solar modules and cells in the U.S., aiming to capitalize on potential global trade tariff increases for solar module imports. The company, which recently went public after merging with Blue World Acquisition Corp., expects to raise $100 million for these projects and has faced global trade investigations in Vietnam.