A $344 million solar glass manufacturing facility is set to be built in Georgia, USA.

Solarcycle, a technology-based solar recycling company, said the facility in Cedartown will create more than 600 new full-time jobs in Polk County.

The facility will be the first-of-its-kind in the country to use recycled materials from retired solar panels to make new solar glass.

Solarcycle will construct a manufacturing facility located at Cedartown North Business Park.

The plant, which will be the first of the company’s facilities to manufacture glass in addition to recycling solar panels, is scheduled to begin construction in 2024 and will be operational in 2026.

Governor Brian Kemp, said: “In Georgia, our strong energy mix is one of the key reasons our state has attracted generational investments in recent years.

"We will keep working to secure our power supply through exciting projects like this one.”

Solarcycle operates facilities in Odessa, Texas and Mesa, Arizona – and has inked long-term partnerships with more than 40 of the nation’s largest solar energy companies to reuse and recycle their solar panels including Georgia-based solar manufacturer Qcells.

The company’s recycling technology allows it to extract 95% of the value from used solar panels.

The new facility in Georgia will position the company as one of the first manufacturers of specialised glass for crystalline-silicon (c-Si) photovoltaics in the USA, with the capacity to make five to six gigawatts worth of solar glass every year.

The glass will be sold directly back to the domestic solar manufacturers and fill a critical gap in the country’s supply chain to build more solar panels in America.

Suvi Sharma, CEO and Co-Founder of Solarcycle said: “There is no question that solar panel manufacturing is booming in the State of Georgia.

"We are thrilled to join the team and build our recycled solar glass plant in Cedartown, which will bring hundreds of good-paying jobs to Georgia and help the industry in its goals to build fully American-made clean energy solutions.”