Japan-headquartered solar PV manufacturer TOYO Solar has unveiled plans to expand its proposed 2 GW solar cell production facility in Ethiopia by another 2 GW. It will invest another $47 million in the expansion.
The Japanese manufacturer said, “This expands upon the successful completion of Phase 1 of the facility and is a direct response to the global demand for its solar cell products.”
TOYO has completed the 2 GW solar cell factory under phase 1. It is currently conducting equipment installation, tests, and trial runs at the factory. Production is scheduled to start in early Q2 2025.
For the additional 2 GW capacity under phase 2, it is negotiating to lease a 28,000 m2 facility, adjacent to phase I in Hawassa, to make use of the existing infrastructure from phase 1. This will significantly shorten the expansion timeline, it stated.
“The global interest and orders we've received for our solar cell products, even before Phase 1 is fully operational, confirm the strength of our strategic vision. Given the global demand, we have decided to proceed with this additional capacity,” said TOYO’s Chairman and CEO Junsei Ryu.
Now, it plans to begin the expansion work for the additional 2 GW in April 2025, with completion targeted for July 2025. Production will commence in August this year.
TOYO announced its initial 2 GW Ethiopian factory in October 2024, picking the African nation as it is free from the US tariffs for bifacial solar cells under Section 201. This output will feed the company’s 2 GW US solar module factory that aims to take advantage of incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act (see Japan’s Toyo Announces 2 GW Solar Cell Factory In Ethiopia).
The Japanese company’s focus on the US follows the geopolitical and trade tensions between China and the US. Currently, TOYO caters to the US market via its subsidiary VSUN, which supplies solar modules to the country. Out of the company’s total $1.3 billion revenues earned over the last 7 years, $1.2 billion came from the US market.
TOYO plans to now transfer the VSUN brand and sales channels to TOYO, once its TOYO Solar Texas LLC US factory enters production with the solar cells supplied from its Ethiopian factory. This will help it meet customer demand for Made in USA solar panels. TOYO acquired Solar Plus Technology’s US solar manufacturing factory in Texas and plans to put the 1st 1 GW batch into production by mid-2025, to produce an output of 500 MW by the end of 2025.
It currently operates a 2 GW n-type solar cell manufacturing plant in Vietnam.
