By Alex Zhu, CEO, ES Foundry
2025 was a defining year for U.S. solar manufacturing — and for ES Foundry, it was the year we proved what’s possible when urgency meets execution.
From the moment we broke ground in Greenwood, South Carolina, our mission was clear: Turn policy into progress, and do it on a timeline the industry could actually build around. While much of the sector paused for patent battles to play out or waited for new technologies to clear regulatory and legal hurdles, we made a different choice.
We built.
Our PERC-cell technology delivered precisely what the market needed this year: legal clarity, field-proven performance and immediate domestic-content compliance. In a landscape where risk avoidance shapes procurement, the ability to source FEOC-free cells today has become a strategic advantage for developers and asset owners. ES Foundry filled that gap.
And we backed that promise with real production.
In our first full year of operations, we delivered substantial volumes of U.S.-made solar cells to developers and module partners across the country — underscoring both market readiness and the accelerating urgency of domestic demand. At the same time, we continued building out Greenwood, adding more than 300 American manufacturing jobs and laying the groundwork for our next major leap: our path to 3 gigawatts of U.S. capacity.
Every cell that leaves Greenwood represents more than volume. It’s a tangible step toward a stronger, more independent U.S. solar supply chain — proof that American manufacturing can scale quickly, deliver reliably and give developers the confidence they need to build without hesitation.
And we’re just getting started.
As the industry turns toward 2026, the momentum behind domestic manufacturing is only accelerating. Developers want certainty. Financiers want compliance. Policymakers want proof that federal incentives are translating into real production. ES Foundry is delivering on all three.
Next year will bring expanded capacity, deeper technology alliances and continued education around FEOC-free sourcing — all essential ingredients for the next gigawatt of U.S. growth. But our focus remains simple: Build here, build now and build better.
The shift toward true American solar manufacturing is underway. In 2025, ES Foundry helped prove it. In 2026, we’ll scale it.