Nextnova Solar plans to open a 2 gigawatt solar cell manufacturing facility in Yukon, Oklahoma, adding new domestic production capacity to a US supply chain that still depends heavily on imported cells.
The company, a partner of Thornova Solar, says it expects to begin mass production by March 2027, employing as many as 300 people. Nextnova says the facility could expand to 5 GW in annual capacity as market demand grows.
A former Xerox building becomes a cell factory
Nextnova Solar, a solar cell manufacturing company based in Oklahoma City, has announced plans to open a 2 GW solar cell manufacturing facility in a 458,000 square-foot building in nearby Yukon, Oklahoma.
The site was formerly operated by Xerox in Yukon, Oklahoma, and Nextnova is converting it to produce p-type silicon solar cells, according to pv magazine USA.
The company plans to begin work on the facility in November 2026, with mass production starting in March 2027.
Nextnova says the plant could eventually scale well beyond its initial output. Nextnova says the facility could expand to 5 GW in annual capacity as market demand grows , and some other reporting on the project has cited an expansion ceiling of 6 GW.
Why cell capacity matters more than module capacity
The US has built out far more capacity to assemble finished solar panels than to make the cells inside them, a gap that has defined much of this year’s domestic solar manufacturing debate.
According to the Solar Energy Industries Association’s manufacturing dashboard cited by pv magazine USA, the capacity of operational U.S. solar cell facilities is now around 10.6 GW, with another 23.1 GW announced or under construction, while operational module assembly capacity now tops 74.1 GW, with 26.7 GW planned or under construction.
That imbalance means most American module assemblers still import the silicon cells that go inside their panels, a dependency that has drawn scrutiny following recent trade rulings.
The Commerce Department’s waiver on cell imports and a federal trade panel’s finding that imports from several Asian countries harmed domestic producers have both underscored how tight the cell supply remains even as module factories multiply.
Company says transparency is a selling point
Nextnova has positioned its supply chain traceability as a competitive advantage for buyers wary of entanglement with restricted overseas suppliers.
Chief strategy officer Nathan Kii Miller said in a statement that “Nextnova is being built to deliver more than high-efficiency solar cells.”
The company’s public materials describe an integrated digital system meant to track material from polysilicon sourcing through ingot growth, wafer production and final cell output.
That emphasis mirrors broader industry moves toward heavier, more durable, better-documented components, a shift already underway on the module side, where thicker glass layers have been added to cut moisture damage and extend product life.
Jobs and timeline for the Oklahoma plant
Nextnova’s initial hiring target is modest relative to the scale of the investment. Nextnova says it expects to begin mass production by March 2027, employing as many as 300 people , but notes that the facility has the potential to scale to 5 GW of annual capacity with demand, which may result in additional employment.
No module assembly partner has yet been disclosed, meaning the cells produced in Yukon will likely ship elsewhere in the US to be built into finished panels once production begins in early 2027.
The Oklahoma project adds to a wave of new domestic cell and wafer investment announced this year as manufacturers race to close the gap between what module assembly lines need and what the country currently produces, though SEIA data show that gap remains wide even as more plants come online.
