As a legacy firm in the advanced materials industry, Corning began jockeyed itself into position on the US solar energy train during the Obama administration. The firm achieved a new milestone when it pumped $900 million into the Hemlock Semiconductor venture in Michigan, securing the status of majority owner while propelling Michigan into the vanguard of US solar manufacturing.
In its latest move into the domestic solar energy industry, Corning has teamed up with two other industry leaders, the silicon solar cell firm Suniva and the solar module manufacturer Heliene Inc., in a new venture aimed at pouring US-made solar modules into the domestic market. The plan is to use only polysilicon, wafers, and cells manufactured in the US.
“The new module contains a solar cell with up to 66 percent domestic content—the highest percentage on the market—offering solar developers a significant advantage through the Investment Tax Credit domestic content bonus,” the partners explain.
Under the agreement, Corning’s Hemlock venture will contribute its “hyper-pure polysilicon” for the wafers, both of which will be manufactured in Michigan. The solar cells will be made in Georgia.
Here’s Some More Solar Energy For Your American Energy Dominance Plan
The omission of both wind and solar energy from federal energy policy only makes sense in the upside-down world of fossil fuel stakeholders, where the preference runs to long project timelines and burdensome expenses. The natural gas industry, for example, is already facing a turbine delivery logjam stretching into 2030.
In a joint press statement, the three partners indicate that the President’s fossil-friendly energy policy notwithstanding, they are banking on the US solar industry. They also suggest, somewhat obliquely, that Trump will fail to claw back the federal tax credits for domestic solar manufacturing.
That remains to be seen, but Suniva President Matt Card explained that “our companies offer the only solar cell in the market that provides U.S. developers maximum ITC domestic content advantage – while building a domestic supply chain that provides for American energy independence and a strong manufacturing base.”
AB Ghosh, who is the VP of Corning and Chair/CEO of Hemlock, took note of his company’s advanced manufacturing technology and its role in securing a domestic energy supply chain. Meanwhile, Heliene CEO Martin Pochtaruk also piled on. Noting that the new partnership is a “significant milestone for the U.S. solar industry,” he stated that the three companies will deliver a high-performance solar module while supporting the domestic economy. “By combining our strengths, we are able to deliver not only a high-performance module but also support the domestic economy and American job creation,” he said.
What Has Corning Been Up To?
Corning’s solar energy activities are of a piece with its long history in aeronautics and space exploration dating back to the 1960’s. The company began surfacing on the CleanTechnica solar energy radar back in 2010, when it hooked up with the robotics firm Reis to develop a new cost-cutting solar cell encapsulating technology.
In 2012 Corning announced it was entering the commercial photovoltaic glass market, following a three-year R&D effort. Another collaboration related to solar energy popped up in 2013, when Corning announced a partnership with the California startup Crystal Solar, which developed a waste-eliminating method for fabricating silicon solar wafers.
More recently, in 2020 Corning tapped the firm EMC to explore the feasibility of repurposing Kodak’s old roll-to-roll equipment to manufacture thin film solar cells.
The groundwork for last year’s announcement of the Hemlock Semiconductor venture was laid years ago, culminating in 2016 when Corning separated itself from the Dow Corning to focus on the semiconductor industry.
“Corning has exchanged its 50% interest in Dow Corning for a newly formed company that holds approximately a 40% interest in Hemlock Semiconductor Group and $4.8 billion in cash,” Corning explained in a press statement.
Onwards & Upwards For The US Solar Energy Industry
That thing about creating jobs is going to be a tough row to hoe now that the full weight of Trump’s reckless tariff policy has begun to sink into the US economy, alongside his other misbegotten power grabs.
Still, Corning’s long term planning for the Hemlock venture draws attention to the fact that Presidents come and go in eight years or less, while the lifespan of many US corporate citizens spans decades.
Assuming that the normal course of Constitutional order will remain intact, Trump will peacefully leave his second term in office in 2028, which is just around the corner. Meanwhile, Corning is not going anywhere. The company bills itself as “one of the world’s leading innovators in materials science, with a 170-year track record of life-changing inventions.”
“Corning succeeds through sustained investment in RD&E, a unique combination of material and process innovation, and deep, trust-based relationships with customers who are global leaders in their industries,” the company emphasizes. Its list of active markets includes optical communications, mobile consumer electronics, display, automotive, semiconductors, and life sciences along with solar energy.
Heliene launched in 2010 during the Obama administration and Suniva launched in 2007, during the Bush administration. Both survived Trump’s first term and the Corning partnership all but guarantees they will last long after the US performs its next peaceful transfer of power.
The US economy is quickly sliding down towards recession, but that will not stop the demand for solar energy. Keep an eye on the community solar movement, which continues to gather momentum.
The brownfields-to-solar trend is another ripe for growth, as local jurisdictions and private companies seek to remediate and monetize landfills and toxic waste dumps, among other sites. In one particularly interesting example, last year the US Department of Energy began negotiating with the firm Hecate Energy, to build a gigawatt-scale solar energy project at the site of the Hanford nuclear weapons facility in Washington State.
On March 6, The New York Times reported that Hecate has begun work on the project, described as a 2-gigawatt array consisting of 3.45 million solar panels and a 2-gigawatt energy storage system to go with it.
There’s just one catch. The land is owned by the federal government, under the purview of the Energy Department. No word yet on whether or not Trump will snuff that out, like he did to the US offshore wind industry. Hold onto your hats…
Photo (cropped): The US solar energy manufacturing profile keeps growing, now with a new partnership combining the forces of the leading US materials firm Corning with the solar startups Suniva and Heliene (courtesy of Hemlock Semiconductor).