Solar powered devices factory in Atlanta

Politics envelops the solar industry. Vice President Kamala Harris visited the plant earlier this year. At the state level, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp has wrestled with Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff over political credit for electric vehicle and renewable energy investments flowing to Georgia.

A solar panel, or module, is assembled from solar cells most commonly made from wafers cut from ingots of polysilicon. Today, the company's solar cells are imported from Asia.

Qcells now makes solar modules capable of generating 1.7 gigawatts of electricity each year at a plant in Dalton, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) northwest of Atlanta. The company already announced a $171 million second phase there last year to add 470 workers.

ATLANTA (AP) — A South Korean solar panel maker said Wednesday that it will invest more than $2.5 billion to build factories in Georgia in what it says is the largest solar investment in American history.

It's part of the largest clean energy manufacturing investment in American history. DALTON, Ga. - A South Korean company has begun production at a huge new solar panel factory in Georgia even as industry leaders say surging Asian imports could dampen efforts to make more solar components in the United States.

Korean solar panel company QCell is planning a $2.5 billion expansion in Georgia. Qcells sees current low prices as a "near-term challenge" in achieving economies of scale and serving a long-term market, Moskowitz said.