United States is aggressively expanding its solar industry, seeking to reduce its reliance on imports, particularly from China, and create competitive domestic manufacturing. This has been made possible by policies such as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which has spurred investment in solar panel and component manufacturing. However, despite significant progress, the United States still faces a number of challenges.

Key points

Capacity growth: Annual solar panel manufacturing capacity in the United States has surpassed 50 GW, which was originally planned to be reached only by 2030. This was made possible by government support, including tax incentives and subsidies.

Import dependence: In 2023, the United States imported a record 54 GW of solar panels, highlighting its continued reliance on foreign suppliers. To protect the domestic market, high tariffs have been imposed on solar modules from China and some Southeast Asian countries.

Weak links in the production chain: The US has developed polysilicon production, but has a deficit in the production of silicon ingots, wafers and solar cells.

In 2023, after a five-year hiatus, the first solar cell production facility was opened, which was an important step.

Future plans:

If current plans are implemented, the production capacities of silicon ingots and wafers will reach 13.3 GW and 24.3 GW, respectively. The main focus is still on module assembly, which is a less technologically complex process.

Geopolitical risks:

Chinese investors such as Trina Solar have encountered difficulties and were forced to sell their assets in the US due to geopolitical tensions and protectionist measures.

Conclusions

The US is gradually becoming the third global center for solar panel production after China and India. However, it will take time and additional investment to achieve complete independence from imports and create a closed production chain. Geopolitical risks and high production costs compared to Chinese counterparts remain the main obstacles along the way.