U.S. Solar Manufacturing Generates More Than Electricity

As government incentives continue to accelerate investment, new manufacturing facilities are driving community resurgence, economic development, and job growth. That was the message from panelists during a session at the recent RE+ event, the largest renewable energy trade show in North America, held Sept. 9-12 in Anaheim, California.

In order for U.S. economic policy to succeed, the nation’s manufacturing capabilities must expand—and this is even more apparent with U.S. energy goals, according to the speakers. There is simply no energy independence without U.S.-based manufacturing of the necessary infrastructure to create the energy grid of the future. However, as federal and state incentives have accelerated the development of new manufacturing, far-reaching impacts outside of increased power generation have also accelerated.

The Sept. 11 discussion at RE+ featured panelists including Will Cabana, Vice President of Sales for PV Hardware USA (PVH US); Andy Meserve, Vice President of Business Development for Eos Energy Enterprises; and Mark Hagedorn, Vice President of Manufacturing Services for Clean Energy Associates. POWER is a media partner of the event.

“The benefits of investing in U.S. manufacturing have become increasingly clear for many of our businesses. The risks associated with supply chain are contributing positively to our communities. Local content is more in a buzz word, it’s a strategic advantage for us,” Cabana said. “I’m particularly proud of my own company, PV Hardware. We recently opened a 12-gigawatt factory in Houston, Texas. We’ve made a huge commitment to that community there.”

Community Impact

Overwhelmingly, the panelists agreed that the local community impact on both business development and the individual lives of employees has been one of the most noticeable and dramatic results of new manufacturing facilities. Eos Energy Enterprises, a zinc battery manufacturer, opened its first manufacturing facility in Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, in 2019. In August 2023, the company began commercial production of its Eos Z3 batteries at the facility, located outside of Pittsburgh.

“Everybody in Eos has stock in the company so all our employees are owners in the company, and they all have a reason to help the company grow,” Meserve said. “We have had some factory employees tell us they are the first in their family to buy a house and were able to do that because of their employment. The mayor of Turtle Creek told us they have been waiting for a company like Eos to come to their town for 40 years.”

The economic impact trickles throughout the community and region, according to Meserve. Employees are finding upward mobility as they develop new skills and rise within the ranks of Eos, he said. And these employees’ new income security is driving economic development as restaurant business increases, new retailers open and other new businesses launch to support the manufacturing facility.

“Economic activity is really coming back, and if we do what we’re supposed to do, we will start to see suppliers with our raw materials begin to co-locate in the area,” Meserve said. “There will be even more jobs. It’s amazing how it starts to ripple and have the effect down the line that the town really needs.”

Job Creation

Despite all the industry focus put on decarbonization, clean energy and climate change, what is paramount in most people’s minds is jobs, jobs, jobs, panelists said.

“Houston has traditionally been one of the biggest oil and gas cities in the country. And now they’re seeing renewables there,” Cabana said. “We bought a facility there to manufacture utility scale solar trackers. The employment part has been huge. The community supports our factory. We have a forklift operator whose cousin and brother also work in the facility. So it really feels like family at the office.”

“If you talk to the average person that is involved in one of these domestic operations in the industry, what they really want to discuss is jobs,” Hagedorn said. “What this really means is you are really making a profound impact on the community when you locate your facility in it.”

Since 2008, Clean Energy Associates has been inspecting solar module and battery cell manufacturing plants around the world to ensure that buyers receive the best product possible. In towns both in the United States and elsewhere, the jobs generated by a new manufacturing facility can multiply economic activity in an area by 10 to 50 times, Hagedorn said.

“That much impact can really turn a community around,” he continued. “So, towns are really growing around the factories. And that’s interesting to see in the blue collar, everyday workers’ faces. They are excited to go to work. They are engaged in something new, and they are very proud that they are supporting their families with U.S. manufacturing.”

Economic Incentives

According to the panelists, U.S. government economic incentives through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) are helping spur new interest in U.S. manufacturing as well as enabling debt providers to feel more comfortable investing in these much-needed new facilities. However, as much as federal incentives have helped, the panelists agreed that local incentives through state and regional governments are generating interest in these communities where the need and opportunities are the greatest.

“The IRA has really allowed essentially the debt providers to be very comfortable on lending money to grow,” Meserve said. “And it’s been very exciting to see the local governments helping us get the community support and the permitting and community engagement that we need to succeed.”

Finally, the panelists confirmed that an overarching goal of new manufacturing—outside of new electricity generation—is to solidify and reinforce the supply chain challenges that were made abundantly clear during the COVID-19 pandemic. Supply chain security and mitigating risks from cyber-attacks and other threats have become top concerns as manufacturing expands in the United States.

“When we start talking about building factories, we are really talking about building more than one factory,” Hagedorn said. “If we are building a solar module factory, we are also talking about a glass factory, we need framing and aluminum extrusion, etc. There has been some movement on this challenge, and you can start seeing some people developing local manufacturing and some supply chain ecosystems around North America.”

There remains much to be done to support supply chain risks, according to Meserve.

“We are going to have better logistics here, but we are not there yet,” he said. “We’re still shipping things in from all over the place. So, when our factory has the support it needs for our components from factories close by, that is when we will really have success.”

—This post was contributed by PV Hardware’s communications team.