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Growth is occurring across the domestic solar supply chain, and at full capacity, planned installations will produce enough to meet U.S. solar demand, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. Solar module manufacturing in the United States has increased fivefold since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) , the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, and the CHIPS Act. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, the United States is now the worlds third-largest producer of solar modules. SEIA reported that 70 new solar and storage manufacturing facilities have come online as a result of federal manufacturing incentives and 47 facilities are under active construction. Collectively, solar manufacturers have announced $36 billion worth of investments in the U.S. over the past two years, which will create more than 44,000 jobs in the sector, according to SEIA. These investments will bring the total planned capacity of solar modules to over 50 GW, solar cells to 56 GW, wafers to 24 GW and ingots to 13 GW. Growth is also expected in the upstream phases, with solar tracker manufacturing already exceeding 80 GW. “The United States is now the third largest module producer in the world thanks to these policy actions,” said Abigail Ross Hopper, SEIA President and CEO. “This milestone not only marks progress for the solar industry, but reinforces the essential role that energy policies play in building the domestic manufacturing industry that American workers and their families depend on.” The planned facilities will have the capacity to produce enough across the entire supply chain to meet U.S. demand for solar energy, the SEIA said. This achievement comes at a critical time when tariffs threaten to increase the cost of imports into the U.S. Having a complete domestic supply chain makes the U.S. less dependent on other countries, and also allows solar developers to source domestic content, for which they could qualify for an additional 10% tax credit under the IRA. The IRAs manufacturing tax break has encouraged companies like South Koreas Qcells to set up shop in the U.S., boosting U.S.-made products and creating thousands of jobs. Qcells said the “game-changing incentives” of the Inflation Reduction Act have led the company to create more than 4,000 manufacturing jobs, “which is proof that reindustrialization policies in the clean energy industry are succeeding.” In 2020, SEIA set a goal of reaching 50 GW of U.S. solar manufacturing capacity across the supply chain by 2030. Five years ago, there was only 7 GW of domestic module manufacturing capacity, 41 metric tons of polysilicon manufacturing capacity, and some inverter and rack manufacturing. Domestic manufacturing creates jobs. SEIA reports that recent investments in manufacturing facilities will create nearly 49,000 jobs and expects this number to more than double by 2033. In addition to planned solar manufacturing facilities, long-standing domestic manufacturers are also expanding. For example, US thin-film manufacturer First Solar has been manufacturing in the US since 1999. The company just opened a new plant in Alabama, which will increase its domestic capacity to 11 GW when fully operational. The company has been operating three facilities in Ohio and is currently building a $1.1 billion, 3.5 GW plant in Louisiana, which is expected to come online next year, after which the company will have more than 14 GW of domestic capacity. The Lawrence County, Alabama plant is expected to create more than 800 new manufacturing jobs. Access the interactive map (above) of U.S. manufacturers of solar modules, mounting systems, power electronics and the battery supply chain here . |
