US Solar Manufacturing Is Soaring — New Facts – CleanTechnica

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I wrote about it a handful of times last year — US solar manufacturing got a big boost from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (aka IRA) and has provided a lot more blue collar (or “green collar”) jobs in the country again. Overall, the IRA has been the biggest reshoring legislation in the history of the United States.

However, the solar manufacturing industry achieved some excellent growth in the country even before the IRA was enacted. The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) wrote about this over the Christmas holiday and included some big new facts — or at least facts that I hadn’t seen before.

“[Solar] is a technology that was invented right here in America, but over the past 20 years, like in many other industries, U.S. manufacturing has struggled to compete against countries that invested in building a domestic industry. While the country maintained important solar manufacturing in some areas, domestic solar products such as panels were fewer and farther between,” SEIA wrote.

“Things have changed. In 2017, the U.S. ranked 14th in the world for solar panel manufacturing capacity. Starting in 2018 and then accelerating in 2022, additional factories started springing up left and right throughout the country, with a focus in the South.

“Major investments poured into building factories and expanding existing facilities. Today, the U.S. has leapfrogged competitors and ranks 3rd in manufacture of solar panels, passing large solar manufacturing countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Turkey.”

Wow — from 14th in the world in 2017 to 3rd in the world in 2024!

This explosion in US solar module manufacturing actually, in theory, makes the US an energy-independent country in terms of solar power. “After a record Q3, US solar manufacturing has reached a critical threshold. At full capacity, American solar module factories can now produce enough to meet nearly all demand for solar in the US.”

Of course, never knowing when to stop, the plans are to build more and more solar module factories. “Despite the growth, American panel production is not done expanding — there are more factories on the way, either announced or under construction. And that means more American jobs as well — if we maintain policies that keep the growth on track, by 2033, America’s solar manufacturing workforce will grow even more.”

SEIA also mentions production of solar tracking technology, solar inverters, solar wafer tech, and solar cells. The solar cell production side is surely the most interesting. “American solar cell manufacturing resumed in Q3 2024 for the first time since 2019 when Suniva re-opened its Georgia cell factory, creating 240 new jobs. Additional cell manufacturing has been announced in South Carolina, Georgia, and Indiana. All told, 12 GW of cell production is currently under construction, and another 34 GW has been announced. Once operational, these facilities will also have the capacity to meet current American demand.”

SEIA closes with a big warning.

“The success of the domestic solar manufacturing buildout is unique — there is no other country in the world, outside of China, that is building a scaled, unified, and complete domestic supply chain. Other countries have sometimes increased production of certain products. For example, individual Southeast Asian countries have produced solar wafers, cells, and panels, and South Korea has produced solar cells and panels.

“The difference is that, so long as we don’t reverse the policies that got us to this point and can be patient as future facilities are built, America is going to have ability to produce the key components – from polysilicon up to the final panel, in addition to inverters, trackers, and racking.

“SEIA can say with confidence that this is only the beginning. That’s because we are talking to dozens of other companies that are preparing to launch the next wave of domestic solar manufacturing. There is more work to be done to keep things on track, but if key policies stay in place and are not reversed, this may be one of the most successful onshoring efforts in history.”

Yeah, about that….