Only a handful of companies still manufacture PV modules in U.S. factories. Although some companies advertise that their products satisfy the “Buy American” requirements, be sure to read the fine print: The products may not be manufactured wholly in the United States as you might assume. The BA requirements also offer loopholes that allow for modules to be classified as “domestically manufactured” even though their cells are made overseas.
Only products that qualify for the “Made in U.S.A.” standard through the Federal Trade Commission are “all or virtually all” made in the United States from U.S. materials. However, the FTC does not pre-approve advertising or labeling claims, and although a company that makes false statements can be fined by the FTC, few are investigated.
If you want to support U.S. jobs and U.S.-based companies, here are a few module manufacturers with a U.S. presence.
- FirstSolar is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, with manufacturing facilities in Perrysburg, Ohio (and Malaysia).
- Kyocera, a Japanese company, opened its San Diego plant in 2010, where some of its modules are assembled.
- German PV module manufacturer Mage Solar opened its U.S. assembly plant in Dublin, Georgia, in 2011. PV cells and other materials are sourced from domestic and foreign vendors, and then assembled into modules at that location.
- Since 2003, Japanese Sharp assembles PV modules at its Memphis, Tennessee, plant.
- SolarWorld produces silicon solar crystals, wafers, cells, and modules in the United States from U.S.-sourced materials. Every step of manufacturing the crystalline silicon PV modules—from growing silicon crystals to assembling panels—happens at the company’s Hillsboro, Oregon, plant.
- Suniva, a U.S. manufacturer of crystalline silicon PV cells and modules, is expanding its module assembly operations at its Norcross, Georgia, headquarters, increasing its capacity for Buy America Act-compliant modules. The company’s modules have 85% U.S. content, which includes solar cells produced at its U.S. plant. Some assembly of those components into the actual finished modules, however, happens in Asia.
- In 2011, SunPower partnered with Flextronics to build a plant in Milpitas, California, that is capable of producing 75 megawatts of PV modules per year.
For the complete manufacturing story in the United States, says Smirnow, you must look beyond just module assembly. “There are lots of other components that go into a solar energy system,” he says. “Many of which are increasingly made in the United States. We’d like to see our domestic solar supply chain grow.”
Smirnow says that there are several facilities across 28 states and the District of Columbia that produce the primary components of PV systems, including solar-grade polysilicon, ingots, wafers, cells, and inverters. U.S. glass and steel manufacturers also provide essential components for utility-scale solar power plants, including concentrating solar power projects (CSP). DuPont operates a plant in Circleville, Ohio, that produces Tedlar, a white film material used as back sheet for solar cells. Hemlock Semiconductor produces polycrystalline silicon for PV cells at its plant in Midland, Michigan. Global Solar Energy operates a Tucson, Arizona, facility that supplies the CIGS cells to Dow Solar, which then assembles them into flexible solar shingles at its Michigan factory. Unirac manufactures some of its rack products in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Genmounts manufactures its racking system at plants in Texas, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and California. Several inverter companies—Exeltech, SMA America, and Power One, to name a few—have U.S. manufacturing facilities as well.