Texas Welcomes More Solar Factories Despite Anti-Solar Lawmakers

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Oh the irony, it just keeps burning. Republican lawmakers in the red state of Texas are making new laws aimed at making life miserable for solar developers in their home state. Meanwhile, solar factories in Texas are churning out gigawatts’ worth of solar panels, making life easier for solar developers elsewhere around the US. What gives?

More & Bigger Solar Factories For Texas

Regardless of the new push against in-state solar power projects in the current legislative session, Texas continues to be a welcoming host for solar factories. A case in point is the leading Indian solar manufacturing firm Waaree Solar Americas, a branch of the Waaree Group family.

Waaree transformed the Texas solar manufacturing industry from an also-ran to a major player back in December of 2023, when the company announced its intention to set up a 5-gigawatt solar module factory in Brookshire.

Until then, Texas barely had any solar factories on its roster. As of 2023 the US Department of Energy listed just 14 solar operations in Texas, all but one in the business of producing racks and other components. The single outlier was the firm Mission Solar Energy. Mission was producing at a relatively small scale of just 300 megawatts until a boost from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 enabled an expansion to 1 gigawatt.

Mission has also been undeterred by the negative vibes emanating from the Republican-controlled Texas legislature this year. Not resting on its 1-gigawatt laurels, on March 20 the firm announced a new $265 million investment to expand its factory in San Antonio, with the aim of adding 2 gigawatts of solar cell production in addition to the existing solar module line.

“Producing solar cells in-house increases domestic content in Mission Solar Energy’s products, providing customers with reliable, American-made solar solutions,” Mission notes. They also advise that the polysilicon used in the solar cells is imported from Malaysia, from a sister company under the umbrella of the Korean conglomerate OCI Holdings.

First Solar Factories, Then Battery Factories

Overseas investors are not the only ones to spot new opportunities in Texas. In August of 2024 the US firm SEG Solar cut the ribbon on a new $60 million, 2-gigawatt solar factory in Houston.

As if to clap back at the sour legislative mood in its home state, earlier this year SEG celebrated its status as a Tier 1 PV module manufacturer for Q1 2025, a position conferred by BloombergNEF. “This prestigious recognition highlights SEG’s robust production and supply capabilities, superior product quality, and impressive market performance worldwide,” SEG observed in a press statement on March 13, referring to its solar factories in Indonesia as well as the US.

Meanwhile, Waaree has a spotted a complementary opportunity in the energy storage field. Last week the company announced another $200 million investment in its US footprint, aimed at the battery market.

The new investment underscores how Texas keeps pushing the renewable energy transition all over the US, partisan politics or not. “The additional $200 million investment in Battery Energy Storage will not only enhance our technological capabilities but also drive the mass-scale adoption of cost-efficient energy solutions across the USA,” explained Waaree Energies Director and CEO Dr. Amit Paithankar.

“Our decision to invest was primarily driven by the significant market potential in the energy sector,” Dr. Paithankar emphasized.

A Ringing Endorsement For The US Solar Industry

Waaree also used the occasion of last week’s announcement to reaffirm its confidence in the US solar industry. “The US boasts one of the largest and most dynamic energy markets in the world, offering significant opportunities for growth and innovation,” Waaree explained.

“Additionally, the US is at the forefront of technological advancements, particularly in AI and data centers, which require substantial and reliable power sources,” they added.

“Furthermore, solar energy is currently the cheapest source of power and the fastest to commission, making it an ideal choice for our expansion efforts,” they added again for good measure.

There Goes Texas, Again

As if to hammer home the point, Waaree concluded last week’s announcement by reminding everyone that it is on track to meet the 5-gigawatt goal. Its Brookshire facility has hit the 1.6 gigawatt mark and plans are in the works to bump it up to 3.2 gigawatts “soon.”

In support of Waaree’s enthusiasm, additional solar factories are coming to Texas. The Japanese firm TOYO, for example, is working towards a goal of 2.5 gigawatts for its new solar factory near Houston by the end of this year, “in anticipation of a strong order pipeline from U.S. customers,” according to the company.

The formerly named Norwegian firm Freyr Battery is another example of investor confidence in the ability of the US to support more solar factories. Last year Freyr set the wheels in motion to acquire a 5-gigawatt solar facility in Texas, recasting itself as the Texas-headquartered solar manufacturer “T1” while ditching plans to build a battery factory in Georgia.

Work on the Texas facility was already under way at the time of the acquisition, and T1 anticipates start of production late this year.

More Solar Factories In The USA

Of course, Texas doesn’t have a lock on new solar factories. Activity is also humming elsewhere around the US, including other red states that benefited from federal manufacturing programs launched during the Biden administration.

As a reminder, exactly zero Republicans in Congress voted to pass the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, but their home states continue to reap the rewards of IRA-stimulated investments — well, maybe.

US President Trump has already gone after the US offshore wind industry with a hatchet, even to the extent of clawing back permits for projects already under construction. That’s not a particularly good sign for other renewable energy industries in the US supported by federal programs.

Take the leading Korean firm Hanwha QCells, for example. In January, during the waning days of the Biden administration, QCells closed on a $1.45 billion loan guarantee issued by the US Department of Energy to support a new $2.2 billion polysilicon manufacturing complex in Georgia.

“The facility will be the largest ingot and wafer plant ever built in the US and will reestablish critical parts of the domestic solar supply chain,” noted the law firm and business accelerator Mintz, which represented the Energy Department during the loan approval process.

“The factory will also be the first fully integrated silicon-based solar manufacturing facility constructed in the US in over a decade,” Mintz added. “Once fully operational, the facility is expected to produce 3.3 GW of solar panels per year.”

As of early February Mintz seemed confident that QCells will be able to move forward even though Trump summarily suspended the entire loan program shortly after taking office. Trump did eventually unchain a loan guarantee of $1.67 billion for the sustainable aviation fuel company Montana Renewables, which was another transaction in the Mintz portfolio of sustainable infrastructure projects, which could be some cause for optimism.

No word yet on the QCells loan, so fingers crossed. Either way, it’s too late for Trump or anyone else to stop the solar energy revolution. As of February solar factories in the US were already turning out a total of 50 gigawatts, enough to satisfy current demand.

Photo (cropped): Texas has become a hotspot for solar factories, even though Republicans in the statehouse are pushing for new anti-solar legislation this year (courtesy of Waaree).