ES Foundry Joins MIT Manufacturing Initiative With $1.5 Million Commitment – News and Statistics
Sep 21, 2026
ES Foundry, a U.S. business focused on bringing crystalline solar cell production back onshore, said on Sept. 21, 2026 that it has become a member of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology‘s Initiative for New Manufacturing. The company is putting $1.5 million into the initiative across three years as part of a fresh partnership aimed at bolstering American manufacturing.
According to the company, the tie-up will speed up its exploration of artificial intelligence-driven efficiency gains and sophisticated operating models, with the goal of keeping U.S. manufacturing globally competitive.
The move lands at a pivotal moment for ES Foundry’s expansion. In July, the company finished a 2 gigawatt enlargement of its Greenwood, South Carolina, plant, lifting total yearly solar cell production capacity to 3 gigawatts and backing over 400 advanced manufacturing positions.
Now that this capacity exists, ES Foundry said it is shifting attention past sheer manufacturing scale toward the technologies, workforce and operating methods that will decide whether American solar manufacturing can stay competitive over the long haul.
Alex Zhu, the company’s chief executive, said ES Foundry has invested substantially in restoring solar cell manufacturing to the United States, and that its pledge to the MIT initiative amounts to an investment in fortifying that manufacturing. Zhu noted that running at commercial scale daily provides a grounded perspective on where technology, automation and workforce development can have an impact, and that partnering with MIT offers a chance to investigate solutions to manufacturing difficulties and to devise fresh ideas and approaches.
Per the company, solar cells continue to be a crucial missing piece in the domestic photovoltaic supply chain. Although U.S. module manufacturing capacity has grown considerably, a large portion of the industry still relies on imported cells. ES Foundry said it was created to help alter that situation by making high-performance crystalline solar cells within the United States.
The Greenwood site turns out bifacial PERC solar cells for utility-scale, commercial and community solar uses. The finished expansion provides ES Foundry with a 3 gigawatt operating base where enhancements in production technology, automation, process control, workforce skills and factory efficiency can be deployed at commercial scale.
The $1.5 million pledge will underpin ES Foundry’s participation with the initiative and its wider efforts to tackle difficulties confronting modern manufacturers. Via the initiative, ES Foundry will collaborate with MIT faculty, researchers and students, along with manufacturers from other sectors, on subjects such as artificial intelligence on the factory floor, automated systems, cybersecurity, digital twins, continuous innovation and workforce development.
The partnership is intended to flow in both directions, with ES Foundry able to tap into fresh thinking from MIT while contributing the know-how of a manufacturer that is actively running and growing a highly technical production process in the United States.
Lionel Moss, general manager of operations at ES Foundry, said manufacturing difficulties become quite tangible when a factory operates around the clock. Moss said the company continually looks at ways to boost yield, productivity, equipment performance, processes and workforce capabilities, and that it has plenty to gain from the work at MIT while also offering Greenwood-derived experiences. He called that interchange the source of the collaboration’s value.
The Initiative for New Manufacturing unites manufacturers from various industries with MIT researchers, educators and students to address common production challenges. Since its 2025 launch, the initiative has broadened its efforts across manufacturing research, industry engagement, workforce development and entrepreneurship, with programs exploring areas from factory-floor artificial intelligence and automation to cybersecurity, digital twins and novel methods for cultivating manufacturing talent.
John Hart, a professor and head of the MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering who is faculty co-director of the initiative, said ES Foundry contributes a valuable perspective to the initiative and welcomed the company into the community.
ES Foundry said its participation in the initiative extends a wider push to build a lasting domestic solar cell manufacturing foundation. Having production capacity in the United States is a key initial step, and the company’s current focus is making sure U.S. solar cell manufacturing keeps advancing, innovating and competing as the industry expands.
Headquartered in South Carolina, ES Foundry portrays itself as speeding up the U.S. solar industry by onshoring crystalline solar cell manufacturing. Its Greenwood plant makes cells designed to satisfy the requirements of U.S. panel manufacturers and the supply chain needs of developers and engineering, procurement and construction firms. The company said it was purpose-built for Foreign Entity of Concern compliance and runs with entirely non-FEOC ownership, leadership and financing, guaranteeing transparent supply chains and verified eligibility for incentives, including the domestic content bonus.
Interactive table based on the Store Companies dataset for this report.
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#
Company
Headquarters
Focus
Scale
Note
1
First Solar
Tempe, Arizona
Solar cells (thin-film)
Large
Major US solar manufacturer
2
SunPower Corporation
San Jose, California
High-efficiency solar cells
Large
Residential & commercial solar
3
Cree LED (SMART Global Holdings)
Durham, North Carolina
LED components & lighting
Large
Former Cree LED business
4
Maxeon Solar Technologies
San Jose, California
Solar cells & panels
Large
Spin-off from SunPower
5
Luminus Devices
Fremont, California
LED components
Medium
Specialty & high-power LEDs
6
Bridgelux
Fremont, California
LED arrays & lighting
Medium
LED technology & solutions
7
Sundiode
Princeton, New Jersey
Semiconductor lasers & VCSELs
Small
Advanced photonics
8
Solaria
Fremont, California
High-efficiency solar cells
Medium
Residential solar panels
9
MiaSolé Hi-Tech Corp
Santa Clara, California
Flexible thin-film solar
Medium
CIGS solar technology
10
Heliene
Mountain Iron, Minnesota
Solar cells & modules
Medium
US & Canadian manufacturing
11
Silfab Solar
Bellingham, Washington
Solar cells & modules
Medium
North American manufacturing
12
Mission Solar Energy
San Antonio, Texas
Solar cells & modules
Medium
US-made solar panels
13
Qcells (Hanwha Q CELLS USA)
Irvine, California
Solar cell & panel manufacturing
Large
US operations of Korean parent
14
Aledia
Fremont, California
MicroLED technology
Small
3D architecture LEDs
15
Soraa
Fremont, California
GaN on GaN LEDs
Medium
High-quality lighting
16
Lumiode
New York, New York
Microdisplay LEDs
Small
High-brightness microdisplays
17
Glo
Nashville, Tennessee
UV-C LED technology
Small
Disinfection & purification
18
Suniva
Norcross, Georgia
Solar cells & modules
Medium
US crystalline silicon solar
19
Swift Solar
San Carlos, California
Perovskite solar cells
Small
Next-generation tandem cells
20
Tandem PV
San Jose, California
Perovskite-silicon solar
Small
Tandem cell technology
21
Brightspot Automation
Boulder, Colorado
LED testing & sorting
Small
Manufacturing equipment
22
SolarTech Universal
Livermore, California
Solar cell manufacturing
Small
Turnkey production lines
23
Arizona Sun
Chandler, Arizona
Solar cell & panel sales
Small
Distributor & assembler
24
GreenBrilliance
Sterling, Virginia
Solar panel integration
Medium
Residential & commercial
25
Lumileds
San Jose, California
LED components & automotive
Large
Former Philips business
26
Lighting Science Group
West Warwick, Rhode Island
LED lighting solutions
Medium
Specialty & horticultural
27
Energy Focus
Solon, Ohio
LED lighting products
Medium
Military & commercial
28
Crystal IS
Green Island, New York
UVC LEDs
Small
Aluminum nitride substrates
29
HexaTech
Morrisville, North Carolina
AlN substrates for LEDs
Small
Materials for UV LEDs
30
Kyocera AVX
Fountain Inn, South Carolina
LED components & optoelectronics
Large
US division of Kyocera
