Determining where solar panels are made is not as easy as one might think. Of the world's top 10 solar panel manufacturers, seven are based in China, while only First Solar is based in the United States. The two remaining manufacturers on the list are from South Korea and Canada, though the latter is often considered Chinese as well.
But a manufacturer's country of origin is only part of determining where solar panels come from. Manufacturers have factories in many parts of the world, and most &#;manufacturers&#; are actually just assemblers of the final product. Like many manufactured goods, a single solar panel (or &#;module&#;) is made of multiple parts that are manufactured by separate companies located all over the world using raw materials from even more parts of the world.
The Global Supply Chain
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To determine where solar panels are made requires tracing the solar chain from final product back to their component parts and the raw materials they are all made of.
From top to bottom, a solar panel sitting on a rooftop is comprised of:
Those parts are all manufactured from smaller components, which are themselves manufactured from primary materials coming from many regions.
In , the United States imported roughly 86% of new solar PV modules, capable of producing 26.7 gigawatts (GW) of electricity&#;enough to supply the electricity needs of Arizona during the summer. By contrast, U.S.-based manufacturers produced 4.4 GW of solar PV modules. Imported modules came primarily from Asia, especially Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and South Korea. China, whose imports are the subject of much political controversy, accounted for merely 1% of module imports to the U.S. at the end of .
Solar modules themselves are made of solar cells, which in turn are made of silicon wafers, the thin slices of silicon that are used as semiconductors in all electronics, including solar panels. China controls at least 60% of wafer manufacturing, including 25% by a single company, Longi Green Energy Technology Co., the largest solar company in the world.
At the beginning of the supply chain, silicon wafers are manufactured from solar-grade polysilicon. Nearly half (45%) of that polysilicon is produced in the Uyghur Region of western China, where an eye-opening report revealed evidence of forced migration and forced labor of the indigenous Uyghur population. This important human rights issue affects not just the solar industry but extends to the entire electronics industry that relies on silicon semiconductors. In June , the Biden Administration restricted the import of silicon materials from five Chinese companies based on the serious allegations in the report.
Among the other components of a solar module, the frames, made of aluminum, may be the most sustainable aspect, as the largest source of aluminum (nearly 40%) comes from recycled products. The vast majority of frame manufacturers are based in China. The same applies to glass, encapsulants, and backsheet materials, where China dominates the industries, followed by Germany.
A Growing Market for Solar Manufacturers
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Following a global trend, the U.S. solar market has boomed in the past decade. Approximately 40% of all new electricity generation capacity installed in the United States in was from solar PV, up from 4% a decade earlier. In , the U.S. solar industry employed roughly 242,000 people and had installed over 2 million solar PV systems.
The trend should only continue: with the extension of tax credits and other incentives, the U.S. Energy Information Administration predicts that declining costs and the pairing of solar with battery storage will lead to solar being among the &#;most economically competitive&#; sources of electricity.
The United States was the birthplace of the modern solar industry, due to government support for research and development&#;more than any other country. In the s, 90% of solar manufacturing worldwide was based in the United States. Today, most of that manufacturing has shifted to Asia.
Despite the growing market for solar, manufacturing in the United States decreased by 80% in the years &#;. This decline comes not despite the decreasing price of solar modules, but because of it: the 70% decline in prices over the last decade has been largely due to Chinese government support as well as lower labor and production costs for Chinese manufacturers, whose prices undercut U.S. manufacturers. While China made long-term investments in the solar industry in the s, U.S. government support wavered, making it difficult for American manufacturers to raise capital.
Solar deployments represent a growth opportunity for American manufacturing, with the American market for solar expected to quadruple by . As of this writing, it is still to be seen whether new infrastructure spending will include tax incentives for the rebirth of solar manufacturing in the United States.
Does It Matter Where You Buy From?
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Employees assemble photovoltaic panels at Suntech Power Holdings Co.'s factory in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China.
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You will be hard-pressed to find an American solar manufacturer whose supply chain never leaves the United States, any more than you can buy a purely American-made car. Beyond questions of the quality of materials, there are ample reasons to care about the origins of any solar panel that you may buy. Some of them are ethical or social, such as supporting countries with excellent human rights records and non-repressive governments. Examining independent supply chain reports or seeing how well a North American manufacturer fares in following the Solar Energy Industries Association's Traceability Protocol are good places to start.
Finally, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues are of increasing concern to investors, and many publicly traded solar manufacturers publish their own ESG reports in order to attract investors.
Evaluating the Top Solar Manufacturers
The ESG Reports of some of the leading solar manufacturers selling their products in North America can help conscientious consumers compare solar companies. The &#;Content Quality&#; is not an evaluation of the company's performance in these areas, but merely an evaluation of how transparent they are in reporting on and self-evaluating their commitment to ESG values. No company will get perfect scores in any evaluation of their performance; how you rank them after reading their reports depends on how well the company matches your values.
Manufacturer ESG report Content Quality (1 - 5) Canadian Solar ESG Initiatives 1 First Solar Sustainability Report 5 Hanwha Q Cells Caring for Planet Earth 3 LG Solar USA LG Electronics &#; Sustainability Report 1 (parent company only) SunPower Environmental, Social and Governance Report 4 Sunrun Impact Report 5 Tesla Impact Report 3 (mostly addresses EVs) Trina Corporate Responsibility Report 4 (no report since )As with other issues of fair trade, supporting a just energy transition means assessing the quality not just of the product but of the production process of solar panels. Knowing where those products come from is a large part of that assessment.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the environmental drawbacks of solar production?
Solar panels are made using caustic chemicals like sodium hydroxide and hydrofluoric acid, which can lead to water contamination and air pollution. Apart from concerns surrounding toxic waste, solar panel production is also often associated with habitat loss, carbon emissions, and unsustainable mining practices.
How do you know whether a solar company is ethical and sustainable?
It's important to do your research on a company's ethics and sustainability before buying solar products. Look at the manufacturer's supply chain reports and check how well it follows the Solar Energy Industries Association's Traceability Protocol.
Is it more ethical to buy American-made solar panels?
U.S. buyers can reduce the impact their solar panels have on the environment by sourcing them from domestic manufacturers. Firstly, buying domestically reduces the carbon emissions that come from international shipping. Secondly, the U.S. enforces strict laws against forced labor and has even banned imported materials linked to this issue.
WASHINGTON, D.C. &#; A record-setting 11 gigawatts (GW) of new solar module manufacturing capacity came online in the United States during Q1 , the largest quarter of solar manufacturing growth in American history.
According to the U.S. Solar Market Insight Q2 report released today by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie, total U.S. solar module manufacturing capacity now exceeds 26 GW annually.
In addition, the industry also installed an impressive 11.8 GW of new solar capacity, bringing total capacity to 200 GW in the United States. The report also contains new data from , showing that the United States added over 40 GW of new solar capacity last year. Wood Mackenzie now projects that the U.S. solar industry will install another 40 GW in .
This quarter proves that new federal investments in clean energy are revitalizing American manufacturing and strengthening our nation&#;s energy economy, said SEIA president and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper. Whether it&#;s a billion-dollar investment in a nearby solar project or a new manufacturing plant employing hundreds of local workers, the solar and storage industry is uplifting communities in every state across this country.
Massive growth in the utility-scale market is driving record solar deployment figures as the segment added nearly 10 GW of new capacity in Q1. Florida and Texas saw strong utility-scale growth and led all states for new solar capacity in Q1. Other markets like New Mexico and Ohio also had strong quarters, installing 686 and 546 megawatts (MW), respectively.
The U.S. solar industry continues to show strength in terms of deployments, said Michelle Davis, head of global solar at Wood Mackenzie and lead author of the report. At the same time, the solar industry faces a number of challenges to its continued growth including availability of labor, high voltage equipment constraints, and continued trade policy uncertainty.
The residential solar segment is feeling the full weight of policy changes in California and experienced its worst quarter in two years. The commercial and community solar markets remained steady year-over-year.
Total U.S. solar capacity is expected to double over the next five years, growing to 438 GW by .
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About SEIA®:
The Solar Energy Industries Association® (SEIA) is leading the transformation to a clean energy economy, creating the framework for solar to achieve 30% of U.S. electricity generation by . SEIA works with its 1,000 member companies and other strategic partners to fight for policies that create jobs in every community and shape fair market rules that promote competition and the growth of reliable, low-cost solar power. Founded in , SEIA is the national trade association for the solar and solar + storage industries, building a comprehensive vision for the Solar+ Decade through research, education and advocacy. Visit SEIA online at www.seia.org and follow @SEIA on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.
Media Contact:
Morgan Lyons, SEIA&#;s Director of Communications, (202) 556-
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