TOYO cuts ribbon on 2 GW expansion in Texas
Japanese solar manufacturer TOYO Co. Ltd. has finished the expansion on its Humble, Texas manufacturing facility, the firm announced Oct. 7.
First announced in June, the $357 million expansion bumps TOYO’s module nameplate capacity to 2 GW, according to company officials. The ribbon cutting ceremony included a tour of the recently improved factory, as well as comments from TOYO’s top brass, including chairman and CEO Takahiko Onozuka.
“Completing our 2 GW module expansion in Texas is an important milestone for TOYO, and cell manufacturing with HJT technology is our next step,” Onozuka says. “We thank our employees, the Humble community, and our partners in the United States and Japan for their support.”
Paul Wormser, SVP of technical service provider Intertek CEA, says his team found very few issues in the way of quality assurance when inspecting the new facility.
“Our team conducts a rigorous, independent review of every element of a factory’s operations — quality systems, processes, and risk controls,” he says. “We check a thousand different things in twelve major areas. And in those twelve major areas, we have never found perfection, but Toyo has gotten our highest grade.”
TOYO’s upcoming Texas plans
In his comments, Onozuka says the company is working toward a slight pivot in its solar cell manufacturing priorities. The next stage for the Tokyo-based company’s Houston-area plant is to focus on installing a heterojunction (HJT) cell line, officials say.
Announced during the company’s Oct. 6 Analyst Day webcast, the company expects to complete the new production line during Q1 2028. The HJT cells will be able to offer higher efficiency levels for the North American market and beyond, as well as better heat tolerance and lower degradation levels, the firm says.
“This investment is creating hundreds of skilled manufacturing jobs and valuable workforce development for families here in Texas — a brilliant example of how global innovation translates into real, tangible local prosperity and opportunity,” says Takeshi Koyama, consul general of Japan in Houston. “This landmark project embodies the strength of the Japan–U.S. economic partnership, and Japan remains a committed long-term investor in the United States.”
Crucially, the newly expanded facility and upcoming HJT line will create jobs throughout the Greater Houston area. Rep. Christian D. Menefee, a Democrat serving part of Houston, says onshoring of manufacturing efforts like these is a critical component of the American job market going forward.
Jeffrey I. Kessler, under secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security, echoed that sentiment, saying Toyo’s recent work is “the direct result of the Trump Administration’s bold policies to bring manufacturing and jobs back to America.”
“By investing hundreds of millions of dollars to expand its Texas factory, onshoring overseas production, and committing to use exclusively U.S. polysilicon, Toyo is making an important contribution to America’s manufacturing renaissance,” Kessler adds.
