The US solar manufacturing industry just hit a historic milestone: Domestic solar module production capacity has surpassed 50 gigawatts (GW). If all these factories ran at full capacity, they could produce enough modules to meet the country’s entire solar demand.
This achievement signals a shift in the US solar industry, which has historically depended on imports for key components.
According to the Solar Energy Industries Association’s (SEIA) Supply Chain Dashboard, companies have announced plans for 56 GW of new solar cell production in the US, 24 GW of wafer production, and 13 GW of ingots. Meanwhile, domestic solar tracker manufacturing capacity has now topped 80 GW.
SEIA president and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper said:
Reaching 50 GW of domestic solar manufacturing capacity is a testament to what we can achieve with smart, business-friendly public policies in place.
The US is now the third-largest module producer in the world because of these policy actions.
This milestone marks progress for the solar industry and reinforces the essential role energy policies play in building up the domestic manufacturing industry that American workers and their families rely on.
SEIA first set a goal in 2020 to reach 50 GW of US solar module production capacity by 2030 – enough power output to match 27 Hoover Dams. That goal spans the entire solar supply chain, from modules and cells to ingots, wafers, polysilicon, trackers, and inverters.
At the time, the US had only 7 GW of domestic module production and no manufacturing for critical upstream components like ingots and wafers. Fast forward to today, and the industry looks a lot different. Two new US solar cell factories – one in Georgia and another in South Carolina – have already come online in the past few months, helping to fill in the gaps.
SEIA’s strategy has focused on building out domestic module production first to create demand for upstream components. Thanks to policy incentives that SEIA helped advocate for such as the advanced manufacturing production tax credit, companies are now investing in every part of the solar supply chain.
Another win came when SEIA pushed for solar ingot and wafer production to qualify for a 25% investment tax credit under the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. That move is helping build out the US solar supply chain even further. Since the passage of key federal energy policies, US solar module manufacturing has grown five-fold.
Read more: The US’s largest solar cell factory is now online in South Carolina
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