Recently, US photovoltaic company T1 Energy (formerly known as FREYR Battery) announced an investment plan to construct a solar cell factory named G2 Austin in Milam County, Austin, Texas, with a total investment expected to reach $850 million.
It is reported that T1 Energy has signed agreements to lease and purchase 100 acres of land for the construction of this 5GW solar cell factory. The factory is expected to start construction in mid-2025 and begin commercial production in the second half of 2026.
Daniel Barcelo, Chairman of the Board and CEO of T1 Energy, said, “In the fourth quarter of 2024 and early 2025, we completed our strategic transformation and renamed ourselves T1 Energy. After accelerating our transformative acquisitions, we are now focused on becoming a vertically integrated leader in the US solar and battery storage sectors. The construction of the G2 Austin factory is one of the key steps towards achieving this goal.”
Texas, as the new hub for solar manufacturing in the US, has attracted many companies to establish component production capacities there in recent years. According to statistics, the newly installed PV capacity in Texas exceeded 11.6GW in 2024, surpassing the combined total of California and Florida, which ranked second and third respectively. In addition, solar steel frame producer Origami Solar has partnered with industrial manufacturing services company Unimacts to build a frame rolling production line in Houston; and Japanese industrial electrical and automation technology company Toshiba Mitsubishi-Electric Industrial Systems Corporation (TMEIC) has also started operating its inverter manufacturing plant in Texas.
