In a striking turn for the U.S. solar industry, South Korean manufacturer Qcells has announced temporary cuts to pay and working hours for about 1,000 of its Georgia-based employees, as U.S. Customs and Border Protection continues to detain critical imported components needed for solar panel production. The move, revealed on November 9 and 10, 2025, underscores the ripple effects of a tightening regulatory environment meant to combat forced labor in global supply chains—particularly those linked to China.
Qcells, a unit of South Korea’s Hanwha Solutions, operates two major plants in Dalton and Cartersville, both located in northwest Georgia. The company has also confirmed that an additional 300 staffing agency workers will be laid off from these facilities. The combined impact affects a sizable portion of Qcells’ roughly 3,000-strong Georgia workforce, with the company emphasizing that these measures are temporary and workers will retain full benefits during furloughs. According to Qcells, the average pay for its Georgia employees is about $53,000 a year—a figure that, for many, represents a solid middle-class wage in the region.
At the heart of the disruption is a federal crackdown on imports suspected of being tainted by forced labor. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has been detaining solar panel parts at American ports since June 2025, acting on suspicions that the components may contain materials produced with forced labor in China. This enforcement is part of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, a 2021 law designed to keep Chinese goods made with forced labor—especially from the Xinjiang province—out of the U.S. market.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced in August 2025 that her department would be ramping up enforcement of the act, signaling a new era of scrutiny for companies with any potential links to China’s solar supply chain. According to published reports cited by both The Economic Times and the Associated Press, the detentions of Qcells’ solar cells began in June, though Customs and Border Protection has not publicly commented on the specifics of Qcells’ case.
Qcells, for its part, has been adamant that its supply chain is free from any taint of forced labor or Chinese sourcing. “Our latest supply chain is sourced completely outside of China and our legacy supply chains contain no material from Xinjiang province based on third party audits and supplier guarantees,” said company spokesperson Marta Stoepker, as quoted by The Economic Times and the Associated Press. She further stated, “We maintain robust supply chain due diligence measures and very detailed documentation,” measures that have, in some instances, been successful in persuading authorities to release detained shipments.
Despite these assurances, the ongoing detentions have left Qcells unable to run its solar panel assembly lines at full strength. As a result, the company has been forced to take what it describes as “HR actions” to improve operational efficiency until production capacity returns to normal. “Although our supply chain operations are beginning to normalize, today we shared with our employees that HR actions must be taken to improve operational efficiency until production capacity returns to normal levels,” Stoepker said in a statement.
For the workers at Qcells’ Georgia facilities, the announcement has brought both anxiety and a measure of relief. While pay and hours are being cut, the company has committed to maintaining full benefits for those affected—a gesture that, in today’s uncertain economy, is not to be taken for granted. The company has not specified how long the reduced hours and pay will last, but it has expressed optimism that full production will resume in the coming weeks and months as supply chain operations normalize.
The timing of this disruption is especially fraught given the broader challenges facing the U.S. solar industry. Earlier in 2025, President Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress dismantled most of the tax credits for buying solar panels, a move that many in the renewable energy sector saw as a significant setback. Despite this, Qcells is pressing ahead with the completion of a $2.3 billion plant in Cartersville, which will manufacture ingots, wafers, and solar cells—the essential building blocks of finished solar modules. This investment underscores the company’s long-term commitment to building a fully domestic solar supply chain, even as short-term obstacles mount.
“Our commitment to building the entire solar supply chain in the United States remains,” Stoepker emphasized. “We will soon be back on track with the full force of our Georgia team delivering American-made energy to communities around the country.” The company’s confidence, however, is tempered by the reality that regulatory scrutiny is unlikely to ease anytime soon, especially as the U.S. government continues to prioritize the elimination of forced labor from international supply chains.
Industry observers note that Qcells’ predicament is emblematic of the broader tension between America’s push for domestic clean energy production and its efforts to uphold strict labor and human rights standards. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, while widely praised for its moral clarity, has introduced new complexities for companies sourcing components from a globalized market where supply chains often traverse multiple countries and regulatory regimes.
For Georgia, Qcells’ investment has been a source of pride and economic vitality, bringing thousands of well-paying jobs to a region that has seen its share of industrial ups and downs. Local officials and business leaders have touted the company’s expansion as a sign that the U.S. can compete in the high-tech manufacturing space, provided the right mix of investment and regulatory support. The temporary cuts, while painful, are viewed by some as a necessary adjustment in the face of unforeseen regulatory headwinds.
Yet, for the affected workers—many of whom have built their livelihoods around Qcells’ promise of steady employment—the news is a sobering reminder of the fragility of even the most robust-looking supply chains. As one employee, who asked not to be named, told The Economic Times, “We just want to get back to work at full speed. Everyone here believes in what we’re doing.”
As Qcells navigates the coming weeks, the company’s ability to resolve its supply chain issues and resume full production will be closely watched by industry insiders, policymakers, and workers alike. The outcome may well serve as a bellwether for how American manufacturing can adapt to a future in which ethical sourcing is not just a slogan, but a legal and operational imperative.
For now, Qcells remains committed to its Georgia operations, its workforce, and its vision for a homegrown solar supply chain. Whether that commitment will be enough to weather the current storm remains to be seen—but the stakes, both for the company and the broader U.S. clean energy sector, could hardly be higher.
