$200M Solar Plant Slated for DFW

Trina Solar will build a 1 million-square-foot solar photovoltaic manufacturing facility in Wilmer, Texas. Image by Jukka Niittyma via Pixabay.com

Chinese solar energy products maker Trina Solar will build a 1 million-square-foot-plus solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing facility in Wilmer, Texas. Counting both the property and equipment, the project is valued at more than $200 million.

When it’s completed in 2024, the facility reportedly will annually produce 5 GW of PV modules and source polysilicon from the U.S. and Europe. More specifically, the facility will produce Trina’s large power output Vertex modules using 210 mm wafers.

Steven Zhu, president of Trina Solar US, said in a prepared statement that the company has long had a vision to manufacture solar products in the U.S., adding that he has lived in Texas for more than a decade.

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A Trina spokesperson did not respond to Commercial Property Executive’s request for additional information.

I-45 runs directly through Wilmer, and the Union Pacific Railroad’s Dallas Intermodal Terminal is at the city’s northern edge.

Electricity in the air

In June, Canadian Solar announced that it will build a $250 million plant in Mesquite, Texas, also in the DFW Metroplex, that will manufacture solar photovoltaic modules, eventually at a pace of 5 GW of capacity each year. This will be the company’s first U.S. manufacturing facility. Construction is scheduled to start by the end of this year.

More recently, First Solar Inc. announced plans to add 3.5 GW of annual PV manufacturing capacity with a new $1.1 billion plant in Iberia Parish, La. The facility should deliver in the first half of 2026.