Born in the USA: Kudos to Europe, Asia, but American solar industry still has some bragging rights

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Tom Cheyney

Tom Cheyney is former senior editor of PV-Tech / Photovoltaics International magazine. A veteran technology journalist / editor / blogger, he covered the semiconductor, microelectronics and solar sectors for many years - since fax machines were state of the art. His PV-Tech blog has become a must-read for industry insiders and observers. He was also chief editor of "The Rise of Thin-Film Solar Technology" book published in early 2010.

I can't dispute iSuppli über-analyst Henning Wicht's overwhelming argument showing European supremacy in installed solar power capacity over the Americans, as well as the fourth-place overall position of the States in cell manufacturing behind Europe, China, and Japan. Europe and Germany in particular rock the world when it comes to solar, thanks to generous government assistance, public exuberance, and a coterie of outstanding companies pushing PV forward.

The numbers don't lie, and kudos to them.

But my inner patriot, the one whose ancestors came over on the Mayflower and chased the English back to jolly ol', compels me to point out a list of reasons why solar power technology, which was born in the USA, still has some bragging rights in its birthplace.

• Who's the leading thin-film PV manufacturer? First Solar, a US company.
• Who's one of the top two super-monocrystalline cell/module producers? SunPower, a US company.
• Who's the preeminent polysilicon manufacturer? Hemlock Semiconductor, a US company.
• Who's number one in the production of flexible amorphous-silicon laminates? ECD Uni-Solar, a US company.
• Who's the biggest name in multijunction III-V solar cells, with 100% installed capacity market share on Mars? Boeing Spectrolab, a US company.
• Who's the top dog in PV production equipment? Applied Materials, a US company.
• Who's one of the top gas and chemicals materials suppliers to the PV industry? Air Products, a US company.
• Where are the lion's share of CIGS, non-First Solar CdTe, and organic thin-film and nano whatsits PV start-ups, early stagers, and production companies located? Yup, right here in the USA.
• Which leading academic research institutions in the area of solar PV research call the US home? Georgia Tech's UCEP, MIT, Caltech, University of Toledo, UC Berkeley...the list goes on.
• Which region is one of the fastest, if not the fastest, growing market for solar installations (and boasts the most wineries using PV systems)? California, my home state.

The land of Lincoln and Lohan is getting ready to emerge stronger than ever among the photovoltaic and thermal solar elite. In addition to the hive of private-sector activities, we now have a president who gets it, federal programs that will invest some serious money into it, and state and local governments that have seen the irradiant light and are lining up to cash in on the renewables revolution.

Feed-in, schmeed-in, tariff, schnariff. Solar USA has come to play.