First Solar, Inc. inaugurated its new fully vertically integrated manufacturing facility in Iberia Parish, Louisiana. The $1.1 billion facility, which spans approximately 2.4 million square feet and is about 11 times the size of the New Orleans Superdome, currently employs over 700 people and is expected to have 826 employees by the end of the year.

Once fully ramped, the Iberia Parish facility is expected to add 3.5 gigawatts (GW) of annual nameplate capacity, taking First Solar’s American manufacturing footprint to 14 GW in 2026, and 17.7 GW in 2027, when a recently announced production facility in South Carolina is expected to be fully ramped.

The Iberia Parish facility began production in July 2025, several months ahead of schedule. The accelerated timeline was driven by the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the Trump administration’s trade policies, both of which catalyzed demand for American-made solar technology that is fully compliant with anticipated Foreign Entities of Concern (FEOC) guidance.

The facility, which has no dependencies on Chinese crystalline silicon supply chains, produces First Solar’s Series 7 modules using American materials including glass from Illinois and Ohio, and steel produced in Mississippi and fabricated into backrails in Louisiana.

According to an economic impact analysis conducted by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and commissioned by the Iberia Economic Development Authority (IEDA) the new facility is forecast to grow Iberia Parish’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 4.4% in its first full year of operations at capacity. Manufacturing roles at the facility offer an average compensation package of $90,000 per year, more than three times the per capita income in Iberia Parish.

“This is more than just a manufacturing facility. It’s a commitment to American energy dominance, affordable electricity, growth and prosperity,” says Mark Widmar, chief executive officer, First Solar. “By competitively producing energy technology in America with American materials, while creating American jobs, we’re demonstrating that US reindustrialization isn’t just a thesis, it’s an operating reality.”

The high-tech factory is enabled by artificial intelligence (AI), using computer vision and deep learning to automatically detect defects in solar panels during production, while technicians and operators leverage AI-powered tools to make operating adjustments and guide decision making.

“This is, beyond doubt, one of the most advanced solar manufacturing facilities in the world and it represents the very best of American manufacturing innovation,” says Kuntal Kumar Verma, chief manufacturing officer, First Solar. “Along with its sister facilities in Ohio and Alabama, this factory demonstrates how AI can be harnessed to help American factory workers reach their full potential. Our fleet offers proof that AI can help realize productivity gains that allow us to out-innovate the competition and run our operations smarter, better, and faster.”

The Louisiana facility is part of what is already the largest solar technology manufacturing and research and development (R&D) footprint in the Western Hemisphere and includes three fully vertically integrated manufacturing facilities in Ohio, and one in Alabama, along with R&D centers in Ohio and California.

Last week, the company announced an investment in a new production line in Gaffney, South Carolina, to onshore final production processes for Series 6 modules initiated by its international fleet. Altogether, the company, which expects to directly employ over 5,500 people in the US by the end of 2026, will have invested approximately $4.5 billion in American manufacturing and R&D infrastructure since 2019.