U.S. Solar Company GAF Energy To Open Texas Manufacturing Plant
U.S. Solar Company GAF Energy will open a Manufacturing Plant in Texas to produce the residential solar roof shingles domestically rather than rely on overseas facilities, declared on 19th July 2022.
The announcement declares amid the growing U.S. concerns regarding the Reliance on Chinese-made solar products. Over the past two years, United States panel supplies have faced many disruptions due to the pandemic-related supply chain turmoil, import tariff threats, and enhanced border scrutiny.
GAF Energy confirms that it will build a $100 million facility in Georgetown, Texas, bringing the capacity from 50 Megawatts to over 300 Megawatts annually. The company is currently operating its business in San Jose, California, where the headquarter is the company is situated.
GAF President Martin DeBono declares in an interview that the new facility will employ more than 260 employees and will be commencing production in the fourth quarter of next year. The company has also received local incentives of $3.24 million.
The Timberline Solar shingles are approximately 64- by 17- in, and the solar portion measures 60- by 7.5.
GAF is among the smaller companies like Tesla and is producing next-generation technology, which integrates next-generation technology with solar panels and roof shingles. In the press release, Martin DeBono said, “Our timberline solar roof has received a tremendous response from both consumers and roofers, and we are excited to meet the growing demand by expanding the capacity.”
“You cannot expect to do the same thing again as everybody else in the world and to be successful in a business, especially in a competitive business like Solar” said by DeBono.
GAF is a unit of private conglomerate Standard Industries, and the announcement releases a few days later after the collapse of the climate legislation in Congress, which includes subsidies for domestic solar panel output. DeBono said that its company has not been banking on these incentives as “It is political, and it can go away with the same speed as it comes.”
Once GAF energy opens the manufacturing plant in Texas, it will result in hundreds of new clean energy manufacturing jobs and building a best-in-class solar product assembled in America. GAF energy’s first manufacturing facility in San Jose, California, was completed and began its production in the last year. As a Sister company to GAF and a standard industry company, it is the largest waterproofing and roofing company in North America.
The ability to access the largest network of roofing partners in the industry, one of every four new roofing in the U.S., comes under the GAF amid positioning the GAF energy to bring residential solar to the mass market.