First Solar unveils $1.1 billion New Iberia manufacturing plant
When Georges Antoun came to Louisiana from Lebanon in the early 1980s, he needed money.
The country was entering an oil crisis, and cities along the Gulf Coast — especially places like Lafayette that depended on oil and gas jobs — felt the hit first.
As families moved to larger cities like Houston in search of work, Antoun began offering a service: For a fee, he’d drive their moving trucks back to Louisiana.
It’s no secret that Louisiana has long lost talent to its western neighbor and has sought ways to entice them back.
The opening of First Solar’s $1.1 billion solar panel manufacturing facility near New Iberia has allowed Antoun, now the company’s chief commercial officer, to have conversations with families who have chosen to return to Louisiana to work at the facility.
The 2.4 million-square-foot mega complex is one of the largest investments in the Acadiana region and is expected to provide more than 800 jobs by the end of 2025.
Two years in the making
When the site selection process began for First Solar to find its next manufacturing facility, leaders in Iberia Parish and Acadiana got to work.
There were at least 10 sites in the running to land billion-dollar project that would bring hundreds of jobs. Two of them were out of the country. When the Iberia Parish site made the cut for the final three, things got interesting.
“That’s when we really had to put on our championship jackets and really work hard,” said Mike Tarantino, ppresident and CEO of the Iberia Industrial Development Foundation. “We’re so happy First Solar chose us. We’re so excited to see this plant come to fruition.”
On Friday, First Solar’s leadership team along with local elected officials and other leaders celebrated the company’s inauguration at its New Iberia plant, opening its 2.4 million square foot building — now the largest facility under one roof in Louisiana — that represents its $1.1 billion investment in south Louisiana.
It marked the end of a two-year process since it was announced in August 2023. Now the company will employ 826 and offer an average compensation package of $90,000.
The opening is a huge win for the region and the state, said Millard Mulé, policy director for Gov. Jeff Landry. “It’s a huge win for our state’s workers, and it’s a huge win for Louisiana’s economy. First Solar’s investment is bringing hundreds of great, high-quality American manufacturing jobs in the community.”
It’s another step in First Solar’s rapid growth across the United States. When it announced plans to locate in Iberia Parish, the news was that it would be its fifth facility in the country and have a payroll of at least $40 million.
The plant opened in July, months ahead of schedule. Last week it announced plans to open a similar plant in South Carolina, its ninth overall.
The company will produce its Series 7 modules using American materials, including glass from Illinois and Ohio along with steel produced in Mississippi and fabricated into backrails in Louisiana.
Economic dividends
The Louisiana investment is already paying dividends, with Acadiana manufacturers like Noble Plastics announcing in September that it would undergo an $8.5 million expansion to supply the New Iberia location. Ohio-based Ice Industries recently celebrated the grand opening of its $6 million manufacturing facility in Jefferson Davis Parish, which will produce steel backrails for First Solar’s photovoltaic panels.
“You feel the impact immediately, “Antoun said. “I’m very proud, given that I’m a Louisiana boy. “
The idea to bring the facility to south Louisiana wasn’t without its hurdles, he added. The state, known for its damaging hurricanes and flooding, at first made the board uneasy, but it had one thing going for it — a highly skilled, easily transferable workforce.
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette and South Louisiana Community College were also eager to help win over the company, providing a curriculum and simulated training for new hires, and tapping the university for a large portion of its workforce.
“Pushback is normal,” he said. “Louisiana is a tough place to build. South Louisiana, we get a few hurricanes here and there. Flooding, tax-wise, insurance-wise. This took a bit of doing and bringing it here. But the company was committed to drive it in here.”
”(UL-Lafayette) produces a tremendous amount of engineers and technical degrees, and a lot of folks don’t want to leave the area. They want to stay here.”
Level playing field
It’s a made-in-America approach to manufacturing that allowed First Solar to outpace manufacturing capabilities of companies in China, said CEO Mark Widmar.
“A level playing field — that’s all we need,” he said. “American workers can out-innovate and out-compete if given the opportunity. We’re incredibly proud to inaugurate this facility as a symbol of American energy dominance and re-industrialization.”
The plant will also utilize artificial intelligence by using computer vision and deep learning to quickly detect defects in its products during production, officials said. Its technicians and operators can use AI tools to make operating adjustments and guide their decision making.
First Solar, which has opened facilities in other similar-sized markets, expected to employ 5,500 people by the end of next year and have invested $4.5 billion in American manufacturing.
“We’ve been able to be successful to go into communities, in some cases, that other companies have left,” Widmar said. “Our factory that we put in Alabama, there was a paper mill there. Those guys went to China. We went back into that community, revived it and now it’s thriving. That’s what we want to do.”
Local impact
First Solar is also poised to deliver a financial boon to Iberia Parish, said Reuven Proenca, director of global brand, corporate, and marketing communications at First Solar. The company is expected to contribute the equivalent of $150 million to the parish’s GDP in the first year of operation.
The company was able to land in Iberia Parish thanks to a state incentives package that included LED workforce solutions program and performance-based grants for site development and infrastructure improvements totaling $30 million. .
Iberia Parish and the Iberia Economic Development Authority also committed to fund site improvements.
“The quality of life for the people in Iberia Parish will change because of this,” Iberia Parish President M. Larry Richard said. “I can’t thank First Solar enough for choosing Iberia Parish. Since (they) chose our parish, we have a lot of other companies choosing Iberia Parish. It has totally put us on the map.”
The New Iberia location can produce up to 3.5 GW worth of solar panels annually.
“You’re going to see us throttle down, throttle up. We’re trying to react to the market,” Antoun said. “We’ve been on a tremendous growth over the past 10 years. Now we’re at a point where we need to understand what our friends in Washington will do and what certainties they will put.”
The company will also provide high-paying jobs averaging $80,000 to $90,000, totaling $75 million in annual labor income, according to data collected by the Kathleen Babineaux Blanco Public Policy Center at UL.
Antoun also believes the company will likely continue its rapid growth as the largest solar panel manufacturer in the Western Hemisphere. Just seven years ago, the company could produce around 2.5 gigawatts of solar panels a year, compared to the 17.7 GW it expects to create once the South Carolina facility is operational.
President Donald Trump has made his distaste for renewable energy well known over the years, going as far as sunsetting Biden-era solar tax credits earlier than they were set to expire. The decision killed dozens of early-stage utility-scale solar projects planned for Louisiana.
But Trump’s marquee One Big Beautiful Bill has produced “tailwinds” for the 100% American-made company, Proenca said, adding that First Solar is one of the only solar companies listed on the White House’s investment list, which shows domestic corporate investment.
“Can we survive without incentives? The answer is yes,” Antoun said.
In an energy-hungry America, Antoun said, solar remains the cheapest and most quickly deployable form of energy.
“Everybody is looking for power as a country, as the U.S.,” he said. “We have no spare power. Is it solar? Is it natural gas? Is it coal? Is it nuke? Look, it’s all of the above.”