US PV module capacity exceeds 50 GW

On February 4, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) in the US published an article stating that US manufacturing has reached a historic milestone—domestic PV module capacity has exceeded 50 GW. If these factories operate at full capacity, they are expected to meet all domestic demand for PV products in the US.

According to SEIA, this achievement is a critical step in establishing a PV supply chain in the US, which will end the country's reliance on foreign companies and support domestic employment.

Based on SEIA supply chain data, companies plan to add 56 GW of solar cell capacity, 24 GW of silicon wafer capacity, and 13 GW of silicon ingot capacity in the US. Currently, solar tracker manufacturing capacity has already exceeded 80 GW.

It is reported that in 2020, SEIA set a goal of "achieving 50 GW of US solar manufacturing capacity by 2030." This ambitious target covers all segments of the solar supply chain, including modules, solar cells, silicon ingots and wafers, polysilicon, trackers, and PV inverters. At that time, the US had only 7 GW of PV module capacity, 41,000 mt of polysilicon capacity, and some PV inverter and racking manufacturing capacity, while other critical upstream materials lacked domestic manufacturing capabilities.