The new solar cell factory in Texas from TOYO will add 1.5 gigawatts of heterojunction capacity for 357 million dollars

TOYO, a Nasdaq listed, Japanese headquartered solar manufacturer, is building a new solar cell factory in Texas that will cost 357 million dollars and add 1.5 gigawatts of heterojunction, or HJT, capacity a year, a newer method for making the individual solar cells that go inside a solar panel and one that is only now reaching large United States factories. The plant rises beside the 2 gigawatt module factory TOYO already runs in Humble, Texas, inside the Greater Houston area, and the company says the investment positions it to benefit from a federal tariff action on imported solar materials and a federal tax credit for cells made domestically.

The new solar cell factory in Texas

TOYO announced the new cell facility in June 2026 and expects pilot production within 20 months, putting a start around February 2028. An independent quality audit conducted by Intertek CEA in August 2026 gave the existing Humble module plant its top rating, a result the company tied to its plan for further growth in the United States.

A second heterojunction hub is growing in Indiana

Heterojunction manufacturing is not confined to Texas. In Jeffersonville, Indiana, the Canadian Solar subsidiary CS PowerTech opened the first phase of a new heterojunction cell factory in July 2026, an initial 2.1 gigawatts of annual capacity on the way to a planned 6.3 gigawatts at full build, on an investment approaching 1 billion dollars. Only 1 Texas heterojunction cell facility is confirmed here, the one TOYO is building, so the emerging hub rests on these 2 specific projects in 2 states, not a wider factory count.

The tariff behind the investment

In August 2026, President Trump used Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, a law that lets the government restrict imports it says threaten national security, to target imports of polysilicon, a raw material used early in making solar panels, and other downstream solar products. TOYO says the action rewards manufacturers that commit real United States investment, construction and production, the case the company makes for its own Texas project.

TOYO welcomes President Trump's action under Section 232 and is committed to supporting the Administration's objectives through substantial, long term investment in the United States.

Takahiko Onozuka, chairman and chief executive of TOYO. Source 1.

By linking favorable tariff treatment to verifiable U.S. investment, construction, and production commitments, the framework can mobilize private capital and accelerate the development of strategically important manufacturing capacity.

Rhone Resch, chief strategy officer of TOYO. Source 1.

The tax credit paying for it

A separate federal benefit, the section 45X advanced manufacturing production credit, pays 0.04 dollars for every watt of solar cell capacity a factory produces domestically, a rate pv magazine USA calculates could be worth up to 60 million dollars a year to TOYO once the new facility reaches its full 1.5 gigawatt capacity. A further 10% bonus under the investment tax credit becomes available once a company cell and module production sit at the same site, the arrangement TOYO will have once the new facility is finished. The Internal Revenue Service, which administers the 45X credit, states on its own program page that a factory already claiming a separate 48C advanced energy project credit at the same site cannot also claim this one, and that a manufacturer must claim it on Form 7207 alongside Form 3800.

Jobs the investment is expected to create

pv magazine USA reports the new cell facility is expected to create approximately 400 direct manufacturing jobs, plus 1,200 additional jobs across the regional supply chain, close to 3 times as many jobs outside the factory gates as inside them.