US solar manufacturer demand
Demand exceeds supply - will that lead to higher efficiency at lower cost?
US solar manufacturer demand
In 2024, U.S. installers put up enough solar panels to generate 50 gigawatts of electricity – enough to power New York City for a year.
U.S. manufacturers made only a small fraction of that – 4.2 GW of solar modules in the first half of 2024. That was a big boost, though – a 75% increase compared with the same period in 2023. And the prices were roughly three times the cost of imports.
I am a scholar who studies the Sun, as well as an entrepreneur who is working to harness its power here on Earth by creating new designs for generating solar electricity. As part of that effort, I’ve studied market trends and manufacturing capabilities in the U.S. and abroad. As of 2025, U.S. manufacturers do not produce enough solar panels to meet the nation’s demand, but industry investments and federal tax incentives have been making progress.
Read the full article on The Conversation.
U.S. solar panel manufacturers (First Solar is the largest for commercial and industrial, while Qcells is prominent for residential installation)
Made in the USA solar panels: Who are the top manufacturers?
U.S. Solar Photovoltaic Manufacturing Map
Outside of the US, solar panel installation projects are less than one dollar per watt installed.
Author’s note: From 2007 to 2012, considering the multi-year program plan, I believe the U.S. government missed an opportunity to control solar manufacturing investment as a strategic asset that would be partially owned by the government. Instead of a focus on securing longterm US solar panel manufacturing capacity, the funding went to companies that eventually failed to compete effectively and then closed. Nearly twenty years later from the initial planning, there is a lack of U.S. based manufacturer competitive output. For example, the automotive industry manufacturers received a bailout, so it seems an opportunity was missed to have a quasi-governmental solar entity. Instead, competitive market forces diminished U.S. based solar panel manufacturers and solar technology development, as U.S. based manufacturers of that period of time went out of business. -Marky
Solar Energy Technologies Program – 2008-2012 MYPP
Since 2022 more than 95 GW of manufacturing capability have been added across the solar supply chain in the U.S., including new facilities that in a year can construct enough solar panels to produce nearly 42 GW, beyond existing manufacturing levels. This growth in manufacturing capabilities is largely located in Texas and Georgia.
Read the full article on The Conversation.
Author’s note: quasi-governmental entities, or quasi-public companies, such as Amtrak, postal service (USPS), Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, etc. -Marky