Heliene lays off nearly 100 workers at Mountain Iron solar panel assembly facility

Solar panel maker Heliene has permanently laid off 93 workers at its Mountain Iron, Minnesota, assembly plant, effective August 5, 2026. Most of the cuts hit panel assembly jobs, with a few HR positions included. Laid-off employees will keep getting paid through October 4, 2026. The company says the layoffs stem from "unforeseen business circumstances" but that the plant itself is staying open with a smaller crew, 182 positions remain active there, sized to match current customer demand.

Heliene has run this Mountain Iron campus since taking it over from a previous operator in the mid-2010s, and it's built a reputation for making panels with heavy use of North American-made parts. The company builds panels to order rather than stockpiling inventory, which the layoffs suggest may be a response to softer demand right now. A second Heliene facility in Rogers, Minnesota, which opened last year and added over 220 jobs, is not affected by this round of cuts.

For homeowners, this is mainly a look at how the domestic solar manufacturing business is shifting rather than something that changes what panels are available or what they cost today. If you're shopping for solar and care about where your panels are made, it's worth knowing Heliene is scaling back production capacity at one site even as it keeps its newer Rogers plant running at full strength.