When Mission Solar Energy first fired up its production lines, the San Antonio-based solar panel manufacturer’s job was straightforward: build enough solar panels to supply seven solar farms commissioned by CPS Energy.
Since 2017, the company, which just celebrated its 10th anniversary, has stood on its own, manufacturing panels for residential solar systems across the U.S. It is currently the only solar panel manufacturer in Texas — and it’s about to grow considerably.
Mission Solar, whose 150 workers build about 300-megawatts’ worth of panels annually, plans to more than triple its capacity to 1 gigawatt annually and double its employees by 2024.
One megawatt is enough electricity to power roughly 200 Texas homes on a summer day; a gigawatt is equal to 1,000 megawatts. The company’s plans include a 200,000-square-foot storage expansion to its 246,000-square-foot facility on 86 acres at Brooks.
Christine Buerkle, Mission Solar’s communication and marketing manager, credited the manufacturing tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law in August, with the company’s ability to expand.
The Inflation Reduction Act is the biggest investment in clean energy in U.S. history, Solar Energy Industries Association President and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper said in a recent press release. The tax credits for domestic solar production will lay the groundwork for thousands of new manufacturing jobs by the end of the decade, she said, and “usher in a new era for solar manufacturing in the United States.”
While Mission Solar is the state’s only panel manufacturer now, at least two other companies have announced they are expanding into Texas. SEG Solar has said the Inflation Reduction Act is one reason it’s building a new plant in Houston, while GAF Energy, which has been manufacturing its solar roof shingles in California, is building a $100 million facility in Georgetown due to strong demand.”
To help Mission Solar control the quality and reliability of its supply chain, parent company OCI Company Ltd., a South Korean chemical conglomerate, will “play a vital role” in providing the company with polysilicon, a raw material used in solar manufacturing.
“The biggest hurdle [to our growth] will be filling these job positions,” Buerkle said. “Because we’ve got no problem selling these modules. Every module that’s being produced today — it has a home and is spoken for.”
Creating a new energy economy
Mission Solar is the result of a partnership between CPS Energy and OCI Company Ltd., which created OCI Solar Power to build and run seven utility-scale solar farms in order to sell the power to CPS Energy.
OCI launched Mission Solar in 2012 to manufacture the panels for those solar farms, with the plan that once that contract was complete, the company would be able to stand on its own.
After the manufacturing site was built, Mission Solar spent the next three years building panels for the Alamo solar farms.
At first, it manufactured the solar cells and the panels, but the company simply couldn’t compete with lower-priced Chinese-made cells, said Lance Wilson, Mission Solar’s central territory sales manager.
Solar cell production is “the dirty part of green energy, so there’s a lot of EPA regulations tied to it,” for those trying to do it domestically, Wilson said. Today, the company imports cells from Southeast Asia, he said.
While Mission Solar’s price point is still higher than imported brands, Buerkle said the company is able to stay competitive due to the quality of its product.
“Homeowners are drawn to quality, American-built products,” she said. “We have become known for industry-leading materials, as well as rigorous attention to detail in inline production and quality control processes.”
Today, it sells panels directly to residential rooftop installers, who sell them to homeowners. The company’s upcoming expansion “will allow [for] more diversification,” Buerkle said, by increasing contracts with commercial customers, government agencies and other utilities.
That is, if it can find enough skilled employees.
Expanding a skilled workforce
On Mission Solar’s production floor, dozens of employees work in tandem with automated machines that assemble, solder and seal elements of the solar panels together.
Machines whir and buzz, each in their own rhythm. Workers wear hats, masks, glasses, steel-toed boots and gloves. Some wear additional safety gear or stand on special rubber mats meant to keep them from being electrocuted while working on conductive elements of the panels. Their work areas are sterile, and they move with precision — cautious of allowing even a single hair to fall into one of the panels.
Tiara Edwards, a quality engineering technologist for Mission Solar, moved from her East Texas hometown of Tyler to San Antonio eight years ago.
Edwards first started with the company while she was earning a master’s degree in management technology at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She’s been with the company ever since, having been promoted twice — first from cell production operator to quality technician, and then again earlier this year into her current position.
“This job and this city were both really big draws for me,” Edwards said.
Positions at Mission Solar include “quality technicians,” who make sure there are no cracks or bumps on the solar cells before they are sealed into a panel.
Others have been trained how to spot and fix mechanical issues that may arise during the manufacturing process. Pointing to two mechanics, Edwards noted these employees completed a full in-house curriculum training on how to fix defective cells before working on the floor.
Still others work as engineers on the automated machines themselves, filling their supply trays and fixing them as needed.
Mission Solar works with the Alamo Colleges and with some local high schools, Buerkle said, to foster a local hiring pipeline. Earlier this year, OCI Solar Power announced a $500,000, 10-year partnership with the Alamo Colleges and Project Quest “to train job seekers for roles in the solar industry.”
This funding will go towards St. Philip’s College’s Power Generation and Alternative Energy program, which “provides students with the skills and knowledge required to work in the electrical power generation industry.” The program offers four degree and certificate options, including the “skills and knowledge to be renewable energy technician based on multiple fuel sources.”
Ready to Work, the City of San Antonio’s massive new workforce development program, is also offering training for manufacturing careers.
Thus far, however, manufacturing isn’t seeing as much interest as the health care or trucking tracks, likely due to outdated perceptions of the industry, Mike Ramsey, executive director of the city office running SA Ready to Work recently told the San Antonio Report.
“People too often think of manufacturing as low-paying, dirty jobs, but that’s not the case anymore,” he said. “These are high-tech, advanced positions that have career trajectories that pay very well.”
At Mission Solar, starting pay for a machine operator is $15.50 an hour, while the average pay for assembly line workers is about $17 per hour, Buerkle said.
Skilled employees, including those with college degrees, start between $18 to $25 an hour, she said. Mission Solar also offers in-house training to employees who want to advance within the company, Buerkle said, and all positions include full benefits.
She added that solar’s future is bright, and its use is expanding rapidly both in the U.S. and in Europe. Mission Solar aims to be a big part of the world’s shift to solar, she said.
“We’re hiring in all positions right now,” she said. “With this expansion, we’re looking for people of all different skills and abilities.”
Correction: an earlier version of this story misstated where GAF Energy manufactures its solar roof shingles.
