JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jinko Solar, the world's largest solar panel manufacturer now has ties to the United States with its first factory opening in Jacksonville.
According to City Council President Aaron Bowman, the economic development project has been in the works since October 2017. The $50 million factory is located at the Cecil Commerce Center on the city's Westside and is considered to be the company’s most advanced facility, spanning more than 400,000 square feet with state-of-the-art robotics equipment.
The general manager for the company, Nigel Cockroft said the First Coast was the perfect fit for the company's expansion plans.
"The U.S. market is a big market for us so we decided that we would discover manufacturing in the U.S." he said.
The company is using the warehouse to make and distribute solar panels at a high rate of speed, two per minute, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which averages out to be a little more than a million panels each year.
The company's expansion project has also made an impact on the city's economy by hiring more than a 150 employees from the First Coast.
"We talked to seven different cities in seven different states and narrowed down on Jacksonville and part of it does have to do with the workforce, this is an advanced technology factory a lot of high speed robotics and things like that," Cockroft said.
He added that the company still plans to hire at least 50 more full-time employees, including entry level equipment technicians. For more information visit the company's website.