Toyo doubles Texas solar plant to 2 GW, plans $357M cell line

A federal trade inquiry into solar imports from Ethiopia has emerged as the primary variable shaping Japanese manufacturer Toyo Co., Ltd.’s U.S. expansion strategy, even as the company formally doubled the capacity of its Texas assembly operations this week.

The U.S. Department of Commerce opened a circumvention investigation in July 2026 targeting solar cells produced in Ethiopia, following a petition filed by domestic manufacturers two months earlier. The probe examines whether products utilizing Chinese silicon wafers assembled in third countries are illegally bypassing existing anti-dumping and countervailing duties on Chinese solar goods. For Toyo, which operates a 4-gigawatt solar cell factory in Hawassa, Ethiopia, the outcome will determine whether its international supply chain faces new tariff penalties when feeding its American operations.

Company executives addressed the regulatory uncertainty during an analyst webinar held immediately before Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting event in Humble, Texas. Toyo maintains that its Ethiopian facility processes silicon wafers manufactured in Indonesia using predominantly U.S.-sourced polysilicon, rather than Chinese inputs. The manufacturer is now pressing the Commerce Department for explicit product-coverage guidance or a certification pathway that would exempt companies capable of documenting non-Chinese material sourcing through verifiable production and shipment data.

This distinction carries significant weight because the global solar supply chain remains heavily concentrated in China, which controls roughly 80 percent of worldwide polysilicon refining and wafer manufacturing. U.S. producers such as Wacker Polysilicon North America in Tennessee and Hemlock Semiconductor in Michigan have spent years attempting to scale domestic alternatives, making the provenance of raw materials a central battleground in American energy policy.

Regardless of the pending federal ruling, Toyo moved forward with its physical footprint in Texas. The Humble module assembly plant, which began operations in October 2025, has reached 2 gigawatts of annual production capacity. The company simultaneously announced a $357 million investment to construct a 1.5-gigawatt heterojunction solar cell manufacturing line at the same site.

Heterojunction technology layers crystalline silicon with thin amorphous silicon films, yielding higher conversion efficiencies and better temperature performance than the standard passivated emitter and rear contact (PERC) modules that currently dominate the market. Building HJT capacity domestically represents a deliberate attempt to compete on advanced technology rather than cost alone, particularly as Southeast Asian manufacturing hubs face intensifying U.S. tariff scrutiny.

The Texas cell line remains in the permitting and approvals phase, with commercial operations targeted for the first quarter of 2028. Once active, the expanded campus is projected to employ 400 workers. Toyo’s broader global manufacturing network also includes a 2-gigawatt cell factory in Vietnam.

Jeffrey Kessler, U.S. under secretary of commerce for industry and security, attended the Humble ceremony alongside foreign dignitaries and corporate leadership. Kessler framed the capital expenditure as a direct validation of current administration policies aimed at forcing manufacturing onshoring, specifically citing Toyo’s stated commitment to exclusively utilize American polysilicon in its domestic operations.

Independent verification of the facility’s operational standards preceded the public event. Intertek CEA conducted a comprehensive factory audit evaluating quality systems, risk controls, and manufacturing processes across twelve distinct operational categories. Paul Wormser, senior vice president at Intertek CEA and a long-standing figure in solar quality assurance, confirmed that Toyo achieved the firm’s highest recorded grade, noting that while his teams routinely inspect thousands of variables, absolute perfection across all twelve areas had never previously been documented.

Broader questions surrounding domestic manufacturing viability, supply chain localization, and the impact of ongoing Commerce Department investigations will remain central to the U.S. solar sector through the end of the year. Industry stakeholders are scheduled to address these regulatory and operational shifts during pv magazine USA Week 2026, a virtual event running Oct. 20–22.