Microsoft, Qcells strike massive supply deal for US-made solar panels

Hanwha Solutions

08/01/2024 10:00

By Nichola Groom
       Jan 8 (Reuters) - South Korea's Qcells on Monday said it
will supply Microsoft   MSFT.O  with 12 gigawatts of
American-made solar panels through 2032 in what the companies
called one of the largest ever deals of its kind.
    The agreement locks in substantial and stable demand for
panels Qcells will make at its new $2.5 billion Georgia factory.
For Microsoft, which was seeking a reliable panel provider to
reduce supply chain risks, the deal will help reach its goal of
powering its operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025.
    "How do we really make sure that we can meet those goals in
this kind of an environment, as we see others coming in and
doing the same thing?" Bobby Hollis, Microsoft's vice president
for energy, said in an interview. "We have to really undertake
things in a very strategic and thoughtful way."
    The two companies first agreed to a 2.5-gigawatt contract a
year ago. Through this expanded agreement, Microsoft will
increase its total commitment to 12 GW, enough to power about
1.8 million homes, the companies said.
    Qcells said the collaboration with Microsoft will help it  
establish a solar supply chain in the United States to compete
with China. The company will produce silicon ingots, wafers and
cells, as well as the modules themselves. 
    Currently, most panels assembled in the United States use
components made in Asia, where prices have dropped sharply in
the last year. Incentives in President Joe Biden's Inflation
Reduction Act seek to bolster U.S. production of clean energy
components to reduce that reliance on overseas-produced goods.
    "We are the only ones that are really building up the full
supply chain. And this is thanks to the partnership that we're
having with Microsoft," Jihyun Kim, an executive vice president
at Qcells, a division of Hanwha Solutions Corp  009830.KS .

 (Reporting by Nichola Groom
Editing by Bill Berkrot)
 ((nichola.groom@thomsonreuters.com;))