Clean energy is driving the onshoring of U.S. manufacturing and creation of good-paying jobs. A report from the American Clean Power Association (ACP) said that the industry currently contributes $18 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product and supports over 122,000 manufacturing jobs.
The industry is primed to grow to 579,000 jobs and an $86 billion increase to GDP by 2030. It would provide $42 billion in earnings to American workers, said the report.
ACP said clean energy manufacturing jobs pay an average of $42,000 more than the typical American worker’s salary. This is especially true in solar, where direct manufacturing job salaries averaged $134,000 in 2024, said the report.
Solar manufacturing
Solar manufacturing alone supports 75,400 jobs across 90 facilities, $5.9 billion in earnings and $11.5 billion in GDP, according to the report.
For active facilities, the United States currently has 35 module manufacturing sites, 25 tracker manufacturing facilities, seven for racking, 13 for inverters, three solar cell facilities, one ingot and wafer fabrication and four sites producing solar-grade polysilicon.
Today, the United States has over 20 GW of active module manufacturing capacity and 3 GW of cell capacity directly supporting the utility-scale sector. This leaves a 25% gap for module demand and 75% gap for cell demand for manufacturers to fill. However, if all announced projects come online as planned, total utility-scale module capacity could exceed 75 GW and cell manufacturing could reach 40 GW, enough to meet projected demand, said ACP.
Further upstream, the United States currently has no commercial-scale solar ingot and wafer manufacturing capacity. However, Qcells and Corning are building facilities that together would add 6 GW to the domestic supply chain of ingots and wafers. If all announced projects move forward, the United States could reach 15 GW of ingot and wafer capacity for utility-scale solar by 2030, said ACP.
As for solar-grade polysilicon, the producers in the United States supplied 4.5 GW – equivalent of material in 2024, with expectations to reach 10 GW by 2030, said ACP.
The full report tracks manufacturing output, jobs and economic impact for solar, wind and energy storage manufacturing.
Policy
The trade association made several policy recommendations to maintain manufacturing momentum:
- Preserving energy tax credits (45X, 45Y, 48C, 48E)
- Ensuring executive orders on energy and critical minerals security appropriately leverage demand from downstream manufacturers
- Create a stable and strategic trade environment
“When tariffs are used to counter unfair trade practices, they must be phased in over time and be sector-specific to avoid inadvertently raising costs and suppressing demand for American businesses, including domestic manufacturers,” said the report.
- Facilitating a true all-of-the above energy strategy
“ACP estimates that the U.S. will require up to 50% more power on the grid in the next 15 years. Traditional energy sources, while necessary, are not enough to meet near-term needs. Solar, wind and energy storage are immediately available and will ensure that the cost of U.S. energy—including costs for energy-intensive domestic manufacturing processes—remains low.”
- Streamlining permitting
“The Administration and Congress should establish clear, predictable, standardized permitting timelines across agencies and technologies, streamline permitting processes, align judicial review requirements (e.g., FAST-41) for manufacturing and energy projects with other sectors, and expedite high-impact transmission projects.”
Bottom line
Over 73% of the 800-plus active manufacturing facilities in the United States are located in Republican districts. Despite this, the budget resolution bill moving through Congress makes drastic cuts to tax credit support for the industry, threatening 94,000 manufacturing jobs across the nation, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.
The One Big, Beautiful Bill will next head to the Senate for negotiations, marking the last opportunity for legislators to avoid causing massive job losses and an estimated $286 billion in lost investment.
“U.S. clean power is primed to lead a revitalized, modern American manufacturing sector well into the next decade, but maintaining the momentum will require sustained policy stability,” said the report from ACP.
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