Houston, Texas: SEG Solar Plans $950 Million Tomball Cell Plant With More Than 700 Jobs

SEG Solar announced on Thursday, October 29, that it has signed a land agreement for a planned $950 million solar cell plant at its Tomball Industrial Campus in the greater Houston area. The plant would add 4 gigawatts of annual solar cell manufacturing capacity and is expected to create more than 700 local jobs, the Houston headquartered company said in its announcement.

The plant is planned to come online in two phases of 2 gigawatts each, targeted for 2028 and 2029. It will make heterojunction, or HJT, solar cells, the high efficiency cell technology at the center of the company's United States manufacturing plans.

One campus for cells, modules and parts

The new cell plant will stand next to SEG's existing Tomball No. 1 module plant, which has 4 gigawatts of capacity and opened earlier this year, and its Tomball No. 2 module plant, rated at 4.6 gigawatts and now under construction. Once the cell plant is complete, the campus would bring solar cell, module and key component production together at one site, alongside warehousing, a research and development center and a certified testing laboratory. Planned production lines for EVA film and junction boxes, two components used in solar modules, are also part of the campus plan.

SEG said the setup would make Tomball one of the only manufacturing locations in the United States where HJT cells, modules and key components are made in one place. Texas made modules built with cells produced in the United States would help solar developers and project owners meet federal domestic content requirements, the company said.

"Bringing HJT cell manufacturing to the U.S. will give customers a more domestic supply chain with clearer sourcing and a single company standing behind the product," chief executive Jim Wood said in the announcement. "American-made cells, American-made modules, one company accountable."

What is not settled yet

The announcement is a land agreement for a planned plant, not a construction start. Reuters reported that SEG did not disclose a construction timeline or financing details for the project. In June, the company said a third factory would lift its total United States module manufacturing capacity to 10.6 gigawatts.

SEG was founded in 2021 and is headquartered in Houston. By the end of 2025 it had shipped more than 7.5 gigawatts of solar modules worldwide and reached a module production capacity of 6.5 gigawatts, according to the company. Earlier this year SEG launched production of its first commercial scale HJT modules at its second Tomball facility, pv magazine USA reported.

For Tomball and northwest Harris County, the test of Thursday's announcement will be the next steps: a construction schedule, hiring, and whether the 2028 target for the first phase holds.