Reaching U.S. solar energy goals will require innovation  

The Industrial Revolution is widely recognized as the 80-year period when the world transitioned from creating goods by hand to using machines. Although thought of by many as a manufacturing revolution, the era was in reality an “innovation revolution” where the most dramatic advancements helped to accelerate the production of goods, the construction of buildings and the development of new products.

Similarly, in today’s race to meet U.S. solar energy goals, domestic manufacturing capacity is just one piece of the puzzle. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), U.S. solar panel manufacturing capacity increased 71% in the first quarter of 2024. In addition, more than 25,000 jobs and 47 new manufacturing projects have been added to the U.S. solar industry since 2022. Consider the recent explosive growth of solar manufacturing projects:

While impressive in its size and scope, this increase in manufacturing alone will not be sufficient to meet the current administration’s goal of reaching carbon-free electricity generation by 2035. If the United States is going to reach this ambitious goal, manufacturing capacity must be buoyed by innovations that help reduce the costs of and speed the construction of solar generating projects. For example, the new PVH USA facility in Houston introduced an in-house pre-assembly process that improves solar installation efficiency. This approach reduces the number of components delivered to a panel construction site by over 85%, resulting in a more than 40% reduction in installation time for solar projects.

In February 2022, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) published “America’s Strategy to Secure the Supply Chain for a Robust Clean Energy Transition” resulting in the first comprehensive U.S. government plan to build an Energy Sector Industrial Base. Due to the recommendations from this report and ongoing policies supporting expansion of energy manufacturing, the renewable energy market has been greatly boosted – and in turn, so has the country’s energy security.

But just as earlier advancements accelerated the progress of the Industrial Revolution, today’s innovations will be the key to meeting U.S. solar energy and climate goals. As the United States forges ahead with its ambitious clean energy agenda, there is no substitute for new ideas that decrease costs, increase efficiency and reduce the time required to bring solar projects to completion.