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This year’s abrupt shift in federal energy policy has thrown a monkey wrench into the US solar industry over the short term, but key stakeholders continue to plan ahead for a clean energy future. Among the recent highlights are Illuminate USA’s new 5-year, 15-gigawatt solar glass deal and a key step for the US firm Highland Materials, which plans to build a new $1 billion polysilicon manufacturing facility in Tennessee.
The US Solar Industry & Tennessee
If you’re wondering why Tennessee is on Highland’s radar, that’s a good question. The persistently red state ranks a lowly #36 in a state-by-state ranking of installed solar generating capacity into Q1 of this year. Last year’s performance was even more dismal. As tracked by the US trade organization Solar Energy Industries Association, Tennessee registered down at #50 for new solar capacity additions in 2024.
The manufacturing side tells is a more impressive story. As of Q1, SEIA recorded 32 solar manufacturers in Tennessee. Overall the state’s solar industry accounts for 5,199 solar jobs including developers and installers along with manufacturers.
Tennessee’s Secret Nuclear Weapon
Tennessee also has the Phipps Bend Advanced Manufacturing & Technology Campus in its campus. The site is ideally suited for Highland and other advanced manufacturers in search of high quality power infrastructure.
Phipps Bend has quite a history. The site was initially developed by the Tennessee Valley Authority for nuclear energy back in the 1970s, but the project was canceled on the heels of a nearly catastrophic meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania.
The Three Mile Island incident occurred in 1979, giving the entire nuclear industry the jitters for years to come. In the meantime, TVA had already funneled $2.6 billion in federal dollars to set up the Phipps Bend site for nuclear power.
“While no reactors were ever brought online, the site retains a powerful legacy: significant utility infrastructure, a strategic location within the TVA transmission network, and a regional development mindset rooted in energy-intensive industry,” explains Pivotal Manufacturing Partners, the company that arranged for Highland to occupy part of the Phipps Bend site as an anchor tenant.
Highlands is just for starters. PMP describes the 140-acre Phipps Bend site as a “high-power, heavy infrastructure destination designed to support mission critical operators requiring scale, high-power infrastructure, flexible zoning, and streamlined execution.”
“The campus offers direct on-site access to a major TVA-owned regional transmission interconnect, the primary regional power distribution hub for Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, PMP adds.
More Signs Of Life For The US Solar Industry
Tennessee is also the headquarters of the up-and-coming global solar industry stakeholder Shoals Technologies Group, which specializes in electrical balance-of-systems including energy storage. While continuing to expand its global footprint, in March Shoals reminded everyone that its US business continues to grow alongside its ongoing relationship with the US solar manufacturer First Solar.
“First Solar’s additional 3.5 GW of solar manufacturing facility, combined with their existing U.S. manufacturing footprint, is supported in part by Shoals’ custom junction boxes, manufactured in Alabama,” Shoals explains, referring to the launch of a new $1.1 billion First Solar Factory in Alabama last fall.
Not to be outdone, Illuminate USA has also signaled its confidence in the solar industry’s ability to weather a temporary reversal in federal energy policy. On August 8, the company, which describes itself as the largest single-site solar manufacturer in North America, signed an agreement with the Georgia-based solar panel recycling firm Solarcycle to nail down enough solar glass to support 3 gigawatts of solar panel production each year for the next five years at the Illuminate factory in Ohio.
Solarcycle also drew attention to the long term outlook in a press statement last week. “This agreement is a meaningful signal to the market about the future of solar manufacturing in the U.S.,” said Solarcycle CEO and co-founder Suvi Sharma.
“Despite some challenging policy headwinds, there is still significant market demand for high-quality, domestically manufactured materials that support U.S. solar manufacturing. We are proud to welcome Illuminate USA as our anchor customer for the first-of-its-kind American solar glass factory,” Sharma added.
The market intelligence platform IndexBox is among those tracking solar industry activity in the US following passage of the new “OBBA” tax bill. “Despite initial concerns, the solar industry has shown resilience, driven by strong demand and favorable OBBBA provisions supporting domestic manufacturing,” citing the California-based firm SolarEdge along with First Solar among the post-OBBA highlights.
Another firm to keep an eye on is T1 Energy, a solar cell manufacturer that rose from the ashes of an ill-fated battery venture in Georgia. T1 is moving forward with plans for a 5-gigawatt addition to the US solar industry roster, to be located in Texas. Plans for the $850 million so-named G2_Austin facility were initially announced in November of 2024 and confirmed in March of this year.
On June 16 T1 re-confirmed the plan, having selected a contractor and received a long term tax abatement package from Milan County. “The project is enabled by the Trump Administration’s tariffs and other policies supporting American advanced manufacturing, jobs and energy dominance,” T1 observed.
“G2_Austin is a key part of T1’s strategy to build a domestic solar and battery supply chain to provide America with scalable, reliable and low-cost energy. In combination with the Company’s fully operational G1_Dallas 5 GW Solar Module Facility, T1 plans to address unmet customer demand for U.S. solar cells and modules using TOPCon technology,” T1 added, referring to next-generation solar cells that minimize energy loss.
First The US Solar Industry, Tomorrow The EV Revolution…And Offshore Wind?
In other signs that cracks are already beginning to show in the anti-decarbonization movement, on July 29, General Motors reminded everyone that it will soon restart production of its popular Chevy Bolt. Billed as an affordable EV with a target price around $30,000, the Bolt will feature low cost LFP batteries.
Less than two weeks later, on August 11, Ford unveiled plans for a full lineup of affordable electric passenger cars, pickup trucks, and vans, also deploying LFP batteries.
Another interesting hint of things to come involves the US offshore wind industry. Although the federal offshore wind lease program has been dismantled, the leading Danish energy firm Ørsted is among those anticipating that the pieces will eventually be put back together again. At least, so the company hopes. Ørsted has stated that it is unable to divest itself from the project, so it is plunging ahead. The news organization offshoreWINDbiz is among those reporting that Ørsted aims to raise about $9.33 billion to complete the construction of the 924-megawatt Sunrise Wind project off the New York coast.
Hold on to your hats…
Image: The US solar manufacturer Illuminate is among the solar industry stakeholders anticipating a healthy outlook for renewable energy over the long term (courtesy of Illuminate).
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