To Continue Leading, The U.S. Solar Industry Needs Federal Support

Despite this year’s sudden shift in federal energy policy, fresh signs of activity continue to appear among solar manufacturers in the United States. Still, consistent federal support for both innovation and manufacturing is essential for the nation to continue building on its newly regained status as a leader in the global solar industry.

How the U.S. lost the solar race

U.S. innovators at Bell Labs in New Jersey are credited with introducing the first practical solar cell to the market in 1954, enabling the U.S. to stake out a first-mover claim to the nascent global solar industry. U.S. solar manufacturers soon began taking their business overseas in favor of reduced costs in China and elsewhere. As of 2017, the country dropped to 14th in the world for solar panel manufacturing capacity. By 2019, manufacturers completely stopped making solar cells in the U.S.

The Solar Energy Manufacturers for America Coalition is among the industry groups advocating to restore and maintain a vigorous domestic solar manufacturing industry. “The country got outsourcing fever in recent decades, but the supply chain crisis coming out of COVID opened a lot of eyes,” Michael Carr, executive director of the coalition, told TriplePundit. 

Solar is the fastest-growing and least expensive form of new power generation capacity in the U.S. at a time when demand for electricity is surging. “It’s important not to have those supply chain risks when it comes to fundamental energy,” Carr said. 

Persistence pays off

The U.S. solar renaissance did not happen by itself. Congress began to take action with the 2005 Energy Policy Act and the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which provided new funds for solar innovation and domestic manufacturing. More recently, those efforts accelerated under the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.

Over the past 20 years, energy planners in the U.S. military have also incorporated solar power to improve energy security at permanent bases and mobile facilities, in addition to providing funds for foundational research into next-generation solar cells and advanced manufacturing systems.

The results of this 20-year effort to support the domestic solar industry are significant. Earlier this year, the Solar Energy Industries Association reported that total manufacturing of solar modules surpassed a key 50-gigawatt milestone.

Additional benefits of solar manufacturing

Under the Trump administration, federal funding for solar innovation and manufacturing has been significantly cut back and research programs have been suspended or eliminated. The global solar industry is constantly reinventing itself with new materials and manufacturing systems, and government support plays a key role in those efforts. If the White House fails to support the domestic industry, the U.S. will fall behind.

U.S. manufacturers provide solar innovators with crucial opportunities to develop new technologies for domestic use. “Solar energy was critical to the Space Race and telecommunications,” Carr said. “These technologies have wide-ranging effects. The U.S. should not leave the manufacturing to someone else.”

In terms of community well-being, solar manufacturing provides an additional layer of benefits beyond the traditional role played by factories as anchors of economic activity. Solar manufacturing facilities deploy advanced systems that provide more high-paying, technology-centered jobs for local residents.

“Solar does anchor communities in ways that other industries don’t,” Carr said. “We’ve consistently seen less turnover and more higher-paying jobs at these facilities because they tend to have more of a career path.”

Even a seemingly innocuous detail like climate control can make a significant difference. “A lot of regular manufacturing is not air conditioned,” Carr said, citing the example of solar workers in the warm-weather state of Georgia who told him how much they appreciate the climate-controlled environment of their workplace.

The solar panel supply chain is also growing. The nonprofit Solar Energy Industries Association reports that 56 gigawatts in new solar cell production capacity are in the development pipeline, as well as 24 gigawatts of silicon wafers and 13 gigawatts of silicon ingots used to create solar cells. 

One example of new supply chain activity is a new partnership between the solar cell manufacturer Suniva, the module manufacturer Heliene Inc. and Corning Incorporated. The three firms aim to produce the only solar module for the U.S. market made with polysilicon, wafers and cells all manufactured domestically.

Solar developers are also eager to take note of domestic sourcing in their projects. One recent example is Lightsource BP USA, which marked the commissioning of its new 180-megawatt Prairie Ronde solar array in Louisiana by highlighting the use of solar panels produced in Arizona and its smart solar trackers made in New Mexico. The project aims to revitalize solar manufacturing in the U.S. while driving investment toward communities that historically relied on conventional energy sources.

“Working together with our partners, we are building a more resilient grid with U.S.-made products, supporting underserved communities, creating jobs, introducing homegrown energy solutions and reducing our nation’s dependence on foreign imports,” Emilie Wangerman, Lightsource COO, said in a statement.

The solar ball is ours to drop

Despite the fresh burst of solar manufacturing activity in the U.S., federal support is needed to keep the momentum going. If Congress and the White House stop providing funds to support innovation in solar cell technology and advanced manufacturing systems, the global pursuit of solar energy will nevertheless continue apace, and other nations are more than willing to pick up the ball they drop.