Germany's Solar Valley is where Qcells was created in 1999, and since then, the company has been at the forefront of solar cell innovation. Qcells was acquired by the South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Group in 2012, and the firm is now formally known as Hanwha Qcells. Its headquarters are in Seoul, South Korea, but it still has its design and engineering departments in Thalheim, Germany.