Siemens will begin manufacturing solar inverters in the U.S. at a facility in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the electronics company announced last week.
The utility-scale solar power components will be produced by contract manufacturer Sanmina at its Kenosha facility, with operations to begin in 2024. The production line will have capacity to build 5,200 BPTL3 string inverters per year.
Sanmina currently operates a facility in Kenosha, one of its 18 manufacturing locations in North America. The contract manufacturer also announced plans last month to produce broadband products for Nokia in Kenosha.
The Wisconsin site adds to Siemens' well-established U.S. manufacturing footprint, with 21 manufacturing plants across the country. Over the past four years, it's poured $3 billion worth of investment into the country, including $400 million for production.
As part of those investments, earlier this year the company announced plans to build a $220 million rail factory in North Carolina.
Solar equipment production has been a major source of manufacturing investment over the past year in the wake of the Inflation Reduction Act. Recent investments include First Solar's $1.1 billion solar panel factory in Louisiana and Maxeon Solar Technologies' $1 billion solar panel plant in New Mexico.
The Energy Department has also gotten behind the push, offering $45 million in funding for 12 solar energy component manufacturing projects last month.
Demand for solar components “will only get stronger,” Brian Dula, VP of electrification and automation at Siemens Smart Infrastructure USA, said in a statement. Dula cited tax credits available through the Inflation Reduction Act for spurring growth in the industry, including projections from the Solar Energy Industries Association of a fivefold increase in installed solar fleets over the next decade.
Siemens' Wisconsin factory announcement coincided with President Biden's visit to the state, the latest in his manufacturing tour of the U.S. On Tuesday, the president visited electric equipment maker Ingeteam in Milwaukee, where the company also manufactures solar inverters.
“And just today, the company Siemens announced that because of that law I signed and the significant investments we’re making in clean energy, they’re going to begin manufacturing solar inverters here in Wisconsin,” Biden said during his remarks. “Sunlight shines down, and the inverter turns it into electricity. And they’re going to build them just outside of Kenosha.”
