Solar panel manufacturer eyes massive expansion, creating hundreds of jobs (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — A solar panel manufacturer that employs 250 people in Jacksonville after opening its doors here less than four years ago is eying a massive expansion of its facility — investing millions of dollars and creating hundreds of more jobs.
JinkoSolar is looking to invest more than $52 million in renovations and expansion of its plant located at Cecil Commerce Center, one of two dozen facilities it has around the world.
Once the project is completed, the facility would almost double its workforce, to more than 500 workers.
Jinko is seeking $2.3 million in property tax rebates tied to the expansion, with the incentive package approved by the Mayor’s Budget Review Committee this afternoon.
“They came to us several months ago and said demand has grown substantially and they needed increased capacity. However, they were being recruited by several other locations,” City Economic Development Director Kirk Wendland said. “So we worked it out and in the end, they said when this package is approved, they said they are committed to Jacksonville and the expansion here.”
The Jacksonville plan is the company’s only U.S. manufacturing facility, with workers there assembling solar panels for distribution across the country. The assembly line turns out a solar panel every minute — and “due to overwhelming growth and demand of its product,” is now looking to triple capacity, according to a city summary of the incentive request.
“Jinko Solar has been evaluating other locations in the US, which have made significant offers,” the memo from the city’s Office of Economic Development says. “However, we believe we are now in a favorable position to have the expansion happen here in Jacksonville.”
The incentive package would rebate half of the additional property taxes generated by the improvements over the next decade. That would come in addition to the rebate approved when the company opened here in 2018, which can be a total of $3.2 million.
To get that grant, the company promised to create 200 jobs and invest $40 million into the site. So far, the city said, 274 workers have been hired, and the company has invested more than $62 million.
“The proposed expansion of its facility will be advancing its innovative solar panel manufacturing operations in the U.S.,” the city’s memo says. “The continued expansion or such a high-tech operation in Jacksonville could possibly lead to other similar types of operations and affiliated suppliers being attracted to Jacksonville.”
At the time the factory opened, Nigel Cockroft, the company’s general manager for U.S. and Canada, said it was “the most advanced in the world.”
The company looked at seven or eight different locations before deciding on Jacksonville, Cockroft said. The company ultimately settled on Jacksonville because of its availability of land, its access to several transit lines and because of the region’s high-quality employees, such as military retirees.