Enel To Build Billion Dollar Solar PV Factory In Oklahoma

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Renewable energy major Enel North America, through its affiliate 3Sun USA, has selected Inola in Oklahoma, USA, as the location to set up its industrial-scale manufacturing facility for American-made photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules.

Enel said the new factory is expected to have an annual production capacity of 3 GW. It represents an initial investment in excess of $1 billion, creating around 1,000 new direct permanent jobs by 2025.

The planned factory will be among the first in the United States to produce solar cells, the fundamental building block of PV modules, and will incorporate a high-performance bifacial heterojunction technology (HJT), said Enel in its official statement.

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The construction of the solar factory is expected to begin in the fall of 2023. The first panels will be available to the market by the end 2024.

Enel said that the project includes the potential for a second phase that would scale the factory to reach 6 GW of annual production.

“We are proud to help usher in a new era of American-made energy and do so with a state that is already a leader in the energy industry. Our selection of Oklahoma is a testament to the strength of the Tulsa Port of Inola site, the state’s commitment to workforce development, and an attractive investment climate,” said Giovanni Bertolino, head of 3Sun USA.

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Enel has been present in Oklahoma for over a decade. During that time, it has invested $3 billion to expand its footprint in the state, which now includes 13 wind farms and a regional office in Oklahoma City.

The Firm And The Technology 

3Sun in Catania (Italy) is already producing high-efficiency cells, unveiling in September 2022 the company’s new HJT solar module. The double-sided HJT can secure higher than average energy production, producing approximately 15-20% more electricity than conventional single-sided panels, and offers significant efficiency improvements, with a certified cell efficiency of 24.6%.

Enel held that the technology’s lower degradation ensures a longer useful life for modules, and the cells’ high density is conducive to various applications, including land-constrained utility-scale installations or rooftops.

3Sun will also introduce its next-generation tandem cell technology in the near future, which in May 2023 broke a record achieving a certified efficiency of 26.5%. Enel mentions that the tandem technology utilizes two stacked cells that allow more light to be captured than single-cell structures.