Greenville, N.C. is set to become home to the first North American solar panel manufacturing plant for the Vietnamese-based company, Boviet Solar. The announcement was made on Friday, with officials revealing plans for the company to invest nearly $300 million in a 1 million-square-foot advanced manufacturing facility in Greenville. This move is expected to create over 900 jobs in the region.
Established in 2013, Boviet specializes in making solar panels and photovoltaic cells that are currently being used by commercial, industrial, and residential customers in the U.S. The company also has offices in Germany, China, and the U.S. The new plant in Greenville, located 85 miles east of Raleigh, will contribute to boosting the company’s global capacity for high-end solar panels and photovoltaic modules.
Boviet CEO Jimmy Xie expressed pride in bringing the company’s manufacturing expertise to such an important solar market and creating jobs that will positively impact North Carolina’s economy. The 908 jobs to be created by 2028 are expected to pay an average annual salary of $52,879, slightly above the average in Pitt County. The state Commerce Department stated that Boviet also evaluated locations in Phoenix and Atlanta before selecting Greenville.
Earlier on Friday, a state panel approved cash incentives of up to $8.3 million over 12 years for Boviet, provided the company meets job-creation and capital spending requirements. In total, Boviet stands to receive $34.6 million in combined state and local incentives for the project. Another Vietnamese company, VinFast, is also set to create thousands of jobs with the construction of an electric car manufacturing plant in Chatham County.