In 2020, the Conesville Power Plant ceased operations in Coshocton County, Ohio. For 62 years, the 2-GW coal power plant supplied electricity to the area east of Columbus. Employing 600 locals at its height, the Conesville Power Plant supported around 80 in its last days.
Conesville Power Plant. Credit: Conesville Industrial Park
Financial consultant and Central Ohio-native Robert Black wants to bring energy jobs back to Coshocton, but this time of a green nature. Black is president of Ohio Sunshine, a new company that plans to open a silicon solar panel assembly facility with an annual production capacity matching the former coal plant five miles up the road.
“We were able to come up with a plan to upskill a blue-collar workforce to a green-collar workforce,” he said. “And we’re solving one of the energy problems for America.”
Black said Ohio Sunshine will initially employ 83 locals in phase one of the 2-GW factory, which should come online in Q1 2027. Ohio Sunshine has a site off Papermill Road in Coshocton and should break ground on the green-build at the beginning of 2026. The company has already signed with Ecoprogetti Srl, the Italian module manufacturing equipment supplier, for all new equipment.
“For us, the U.S. market will be one of the most strategic in the next five years,” said Laura Sartore, CEO of Ecoprogetti. “We are proud to bring our state-of-the-art European technology to Ohio Sunshine and are actively considering launching local manufacturing for our machinery — complementing the service operations we’ve maintained in the U.S. for over a decade — to better serve our customers with a stronger local presence.”
With the construction plan squared, Black is working on supply contracts. He said he expects to get TOPCon cells from Talon PV, which is building a manufacturing facility in Texas. Should the market move in a different direction, Black has also discussed HJT designs with other brands attempting to set up in the United States. But the focus for Ohio Sunshine is to be as independent from China as possible.
“The only way to get to [China-independent product] is to invest in new capacity coming online. There are only a few factories,” Black said. “We’re able to achieve China-independent domestic content solar panels based on the bill of materials that we’ve got.”
