ATLANTA (AP) — The federal government is making its first loan to a crystalline silicon solar plant, loaning $1.45 billion to support a South Korean company's bid to build up key parts of the solar supply chain inside the United States.
The loan from the U.S. Energy Department, announced Thursday, will be key to funding a $2.2 billion complex that Qcells, a unit of South Korea’s Hanwha Group, is building. The company plans to take polysilicon refined in Washington state and make ingots, wafers and solar cells — the building blocks of finished solar modules — in Cartersville, Georgia, northwest of Atlanta.
President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, besides offering a extra tax credit on American-made solar equipment, lets manufacturers earn incentives for every unit of polysilicon they refine and every wafer, cell and module they make.
“This loan is special, because it’s one of the first facilities where we’re not just making modules, but we’re making cells and wafers as well," Jigar Shah, director of the Energy Department's loan programs, said in a telephone interview Wednesday with The Associated Press. "So we’re bringing a lot more of the supply chain into the United States.”
Qcells in April began assembling modules in part of the complex, which will have a capacity of 3.3 gigawatts of solar panels each year. The plant in Cartersville currently has about 750 employees and is projected to have 2,000 when complete. Qcells says it’s on track to complete the wafer and cell portions of the plant by December.
The company also has a $630 million plant in Dalton, farther northwest in Georgia, with a capacity of 5.1 gigawatts a year. That 1,800-employee plant was built without government loans. The company imports the cells for the Dalton plant.
The Cartersville plant would be the largest ingot and wafer plant built in the United States, the Energy Department said. Between the Dalton and Cartersville plants, Qcells will produce enough solar panels to power nearly 1.3 million homes per year, reducing carbon dioxide emissions from power generation.
Microsoft Corp. has contracted to buy a significant portion of the Cartersville plant’s output over eight years.
Qcells must meet certain conditions for the loan, and Marta Stoepker, a company spokesperson, said Qcells is confident that it will meet the requirements.
“The loan that we’re getting is going to be massively critical for us to stay on track with our goal of really onshoring the supply chain and making it in America,” Stoepker said.
Still, the company said the Biden administration needs to stay committed to supporting domestic solar manufacturing in the face of a continuing surge of cheap imports from Asia, which has caused solar panel prices to fall. Qcells and other manufacturers are pushing for tariffs to protect against what they say is below-cost dumping by companies in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam that have ties to China. Stoepker said the Biden administration also could help by refining guidance on the tax credit bonus for American-made solar components.
Shah defended the administration's efforts, saying supports for the industry are "providing a lot of stability for folks to invest.”
He said the United States is on track to have a reliable domestic supply chain capable of meeting most of its solar panel needs.
“The domestic demand for solar modules in 2026 is expected to be around 50 gigawatts. We’re expecting to produce about 40 gigawatts in 2026," Shah said. "So that means 80% of the modules that we deploy in the United States in 2026 is expected to be domestic.”
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Georgia Democrat who has been the foremost cheerleader for the Biden administration's support of clean energy projects in the state, said the loan will “continue growing our economy and strengthening American energy independence.”
FILE - A Caterpillar truck is seen outside a Hanwha QCells Solar plant Oct. 16, 2023, in Cartersville, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)
FILE - JLG lifts are operated outside a Hanwha QCells Solar plant Oct. 16, 2023, in Cartersville, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)
DENVER (AP) — The Denver Nuggets haven't been the same since blowing a chance to beat their nemesis in double-overtime on April 2.
They've dropped three straight since a 140-139 heartbreaker that the Minnesota Timberwolves stole from them after Russell Westbrook missed an uncontested layup to seal it, then fouled Nickeil Alexander-Walker on a 3-pointer with a tenth of a second left and Denver clinging to a one-point lead.
Alexander-Walker sank two free throws to run Minnesota's winning streak over Denver to six games and ruin Nikola Jokic's career-best 61-point performance that night.
The Nuggets lost to San Antonio the next night with all five starters sitting out, then dropped a game at Golden State despite a 44-point first quarter. On Sunday night, they blew a 13-point first-half lead and committed three crucial turnovers down the stretch in their 125-120 loss to the short-handed Indiana Pacers that saddled the Nuggets with their first four-game skid of the season.
“I don't know if I would say there's been a hangover,” coach Michael Malone said. “We were up tonight. We got up by 13. We weren't able to hold on. We were up in Golden State, weren't able to hold on. So, I don't know if it's a hangover necessarily, but whatever it is we've got to find a way to get this out of our system.”
They'll likely have to do it without point guard Jamal Murray, who missed his fifth consecutive game with a pulled right hamstring Sunday night.
Asked before tip-off Sunday if he expects Murray to be back in action by the playoffs, Malone said, “hopefully he’s able to be back by then.”
But where will the Nuggets be?
Anywhere from Ball Arena to a play-in game.
Denver is still in fourth place in the Western Conference playoff race but just a-half game out of eighth place with three games remaining.
Christian Braun, who scored a career-best 30 points against the Pacers but got tangled with Jokic on a crucial turnover with 15 seconds left and the Nuggets down two, said he trusts the Nuggets can still straighten things out in time.
“We get to the playoffs I know this team can compete with anybody," Braun said. "We've got to go in there with momentum. We've got to go in there playing the right way. We've got to find a way to find some toughness.
“We've got to get back to who we are and we've got to find ourselves in these last three games. Like I said, it's not over or anything like that. But we do got to get some momentum.”
The Nuggets visit Sacramento on Wednesday night, then host the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night before wrapping things up Sunday at Houston.
Before the game, Malone said the reason he's stuck with Westbrook despite his blunders of late is that he looks at his whole body of work this season, not the last week's foibles.
“We wouldn’t be where we are right now, in fourth place with four games to go, if it wasn’t for Russell this year,” Malone said.
After the game, the Nuggets said Westbrook had been admonished by the league for declining post-game interviews and that he was available in the locker room.
But Westbrook's comments recalled Marshawn Lynch's “I'm just here so I won't get fined,” routine.
Q: Is there a sense of urgency in this locker room to avoid the play-in?
“I don't know, man, you know, unsure.”
Q: Malone mentioned your value as a veteran. What can you draw from to help this team?
“I don't know. I don't have the answer for you, man. I wish I did. But unfortunately, I don't.”
Q: What's frustrating you most right now?
“Um, probably just losing.”
Q: Where's the confidence this group can figure something out these next three games?
“I hope it's high. I can't speak for everybody in the locker room. But my head stays high, get ready for Wednesday.”
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Indiana Pacers guard T.J. McConnell, right, drives past Denver Nuggets guard Christian Braun, left, in the second half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic reacts after missing last-second, 3-point basket- attempt in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Indiana Pacers, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook reacts after hitting a 3-point basket against the Indiana Pacers in the second half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
