First Solar announces Cherokee County production facility expected to create more than 600 jobs
First Solar has announced a new production facility in Cherokee County that is expected to create more than 600 jobs, adding a planned solar-manufacturing operation in a rural part of South Carolina.
Operations at the facility are expected to begin in 2026, according to the South Carolina Department of Commerce. The project has been announced, but the available state release does not provide an exact operating date, a total investment figure or a construction-status update.
More than 600 jobs projected
The company’s project is expected to create more than 600 new jobs in Cherokee County. That figure is a projection associated with the announced facility, not a count of workers already hired.
The state release does not identify the types of jobs, expected wages, hiring schedule or the number of positions that may be filled before operations begin. It also does not give a date by which the projected employment total is expected to be reached.
For Cherokee County, the principal disclosed direct benefit is the anticipated addition of those new jobs. The Department of Commerce describes the development as an expansion of First Solar’s South Carolina footprint, with the physical site located in Cherokee County.
State approved job-development credits
South Carolina’s Coordinating Council for Economic Development approved job-development credits related to the First Solar project. The approval is a confirmed state action, but it does not establish a publicly disclosed dollar value for the credits in the available announcement.
The release does not specify the final value of the credits, how they would be calculated, their duration or other terms attached to the incentive approval. It likewise does not identify a total public cost or funding source. As a result, the available information does not support a calculation of the project’s subsidy value or a determination of the fiscal cost to taxpayers.
The announcement also does not disclose First Solar’s total capital investment in the Cherokee County facility. The absence of that figure means the project’s investment size cannot be compared from the provided information with the expected employment total or the approved credits.
2026 operating target remains the key next milestone
The next stated project milestone is the expected start of operations in 2026. The state’s announcement provides no specific month or day for that target, and it does not say that the facility is already producing solar panels.
That distinction matters because the project is still described through planned outcomes: an expected operating start and more than 600 expected jobs. Whether those targets are met will depend on later project progress and hiring, neither of which is detailed in the source packet.
The Department of Commerce says the facility is expected to strengthen a rural part of South Carolina and the domestic solar-manufacturing supply chain. That is the state’s stated rationale for the development; the release does not provide an independent estimate of economic output, tax revenue or broader employment effects.
What is known — and what is not yet disclosed
First Solar’s announced Cherokee County facility has a stated employment projection, an expected 2026 operating target and approved job-development credits. Those are the central confirmed elements of the project.
However, the available announcement leaves several business details unresolved for the public: the total investment, the exact opening date, the final value of the credits, the incentive terms and the timing and nature of hiring. Those details will be important for assessing the project’s eventual scale, public support and delivery against its stated employment target.
Sources
- First Solar, Inc. grows South Carolina footprint with new Cherokee County facility, South Carolina Department of Commerce
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