Texas Lawmakers Just Can’t Quit Solar … Manufacturing, That Is

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Last Updated on: 1st April 2025, 09:12 am

Oh, the irony, it burns. The Texas legislature is advancing two bills that will make it more difficult to construct utility scale wind farms and solar arrays, yet the state is rapidly becoming an epicenter of domestic solar manufacturing. If new solar power plants cannot be built in Texas, they will sprout up elsewhere in the US, using solar panels made in Texas.

More Solar Manufacturing For Texas

Among recent developments on the solar manufacturing scene in Texas is a new factory under the banner of the Japanese firm TOYO. The startup launched in 2022 and it has not let the solar grass grow under its feet.

In November of 2024, TOYO announced that plans were in motion for its subsidiary TOYO Solar to acquire the 567,140 square foot Solar Plus Technology Texas solar module factory near Houston, with the aim of ramping up to 2.5 gigawatts of solar manufacturing capacity this year. If all goes according to plan, the first gigawatt will be rolling by midyear, with the rest to follow before year’s end.

“Production capacity is expected to be increased to 2.5 GW by the end of 2025, in anticipation of a strong order pipeline from U.S. customers,” TOYO Solar emphasized.

“This acquisition aligns with TOYO’s mission to expand its footprint in the U.S. to be closer to the majority of its clients, meet the demand for American-made solar panels,” the company emphasized again for good measure.

“We are confident that our expansion in the U.S. will effectively deliver a comprehensive solar technology solution, addressing bottlenecks for developers, meeting local content requirements for U.S. solar projects, and enhancing TOYO’s competitive advantage,” TOYO re-emphasized again for even more good measure.

They can say that again. The 2.5 gigawatt goal is just for starters. By 2029, TOYO expects to churn out 6.5 gigawatts worth of solar modules from the facility.

Overseas Solar Manufacturing And The Trump Tariffs

Considering the sudden and rather retrograde shift in US energy policy since January 20, along with the market jitters attributed to the unforced tariff wars foisted upon US manufacturers by the thin skinned Commander-in-Chief who occupies the White House, it’s fair to ask if TOYO was dreaming of a white Christmas in the middle of July when it announced plans for the Texas facility.

Still, the announcement was dated November 25, several weeks after the American electorate weighed the possibility that a convicted felon could occupy the White House and decided sure, why not? The timing indicates that TOYO Solar is, or at least was as of November 25, confident that its US solar manufacturing vision would prevail regardless of Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” rhetoric on the campaign trail.

Whether or not TOYO Solar can prevail against Trump’s reckless mismanagement of presidential authority over tariffs remains to be seen, but another indication of the company’s confidence emerged last week, when the company announced plans to expand its existing solar manufacturing facility in Hawassa, Ethiopia.

Solar Manufacturing In Texas, With An Assist From Ethiopia

And, here’s where things get interesting. Although solar manufacturing in the US has been skyrocketing on the heels of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, much of the activity involves putting solar panels together from solar cell building blocks imported to the US.

Solar cell manufacturing in the US is also beginning to ramp up, but in the meantime, investors like TOYO depend on the overseas supply chain. To supply its Texas solar module facility, TOYO Solar plans to deploy solar cells manufactured at the Ethiopia factory.

Last week, TOYO Solar announced that Phase I construction at the Ethiopia facility has been completed, achieving a 2-gigawatt capacity. “With formal production scheduled to commence in the early second quarter of 2025, we are confident in our ability to scale up production quickly and efficiently,” explained TOYO Chairman and CEO Junsei Ryu.

To gild the green lily, electricity to run the TOYO factory will be provided from Ethiopia’s green grid, which consists of 90% hydropower and 8% wind, with thermal resources contributing just 2%.

Also, two gigawatts is just for starters. TOYO is currently expanding the Ethiopia facility to produce 4 gigawatts by this August.

Tariffs Or Not, Here Come More Solar Panels

To make things even more interesting, the solar manufacturing facility in Ethiopia is located in a special economic zone, exempting TOYO from duties on bifacial solar panels manufactured there. As reported by Reuters last October, the zone was not included in a round of tariffs imposed by former President Joe Biden last October, which covered solar cells and panels made in Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia.

“Toyo is not alone among Asian companies exploring African production bases to navigate US and EU tariffs on green energy products,” Nanyang Technical University observed last November. NTU cited the example of Egypt, which will be hosting a solar manufacturing facility under the umbrella of the Singapore-based firm Elite Solar, to be located in the Suez Canal Economic Zone.

“While some of the production will meet Egyptian solar energy demand, a substantial portion will be exported, particularly to the US,” NTU observed.

Texas Loves Its Solar Factories; Solar Power, Not So Much

Today’s date happens to be April 1, when Trump has announced that he will announce a new round of tariffs, so it remains to be seen if Ethiopia and Egypt escape unscathed.

Either way, state lawmakers in Texas are determined to make it more difficult for wind and solar developers to add more renewable energy to the Texas grid. Two bills are moving through the legislature and they will take effect on September 1 unless somebody stops them.

Meanwhile, though, the Republican-led body seems perfectly okay with the idea of sending solar panels out to other states. As recently as 2023 Texas hosted only one solar module manufacturer, Mission Solar, and now others are crowding in. In August of 2024, for example, the leading Texas-based solar manufacturer SEG announced the commissioning of a new 2-gigawatt solar module plant in Houston. In January of this year, a new 1.6 gigawatt solar factory under the umbrella of India-based Waaree also started up. Located in Brookshire, the facility will rev up to 5 gigawatts by 2027.

Norway’s Freyr Battery is also in the running. After rebranding itself to T1 and ditching plans for a battery factory in Georgia, last month the company announced it is acquiring a 5-gigawatt solar manufacturing facility in Texas, initially developed by the leading Chinese firm Trina Solar.

Meanwhile, Mission Solar — a branch of Korea-based OCI — is planning to expand its San Antonio campus from 1 gigawatt to 3 gigawatts. When the expansion is complete, the facility will pump out solar cells as well as solar modules.

As for the Trump tariff announcement — yikes! Reportedly, China, Japan, and South Korea have organized to respond in kind, so hold onto your hats.

Photo (cropped): Tariffs or not, Texas is rapidly becoming an epicenter of domestic solar manufacturing in the US, with an assist from overseas investors (courtesy of TOYO Solar).