Last week, solar PV industry experts gathered at the PV CellTech USA conference in San Francisco to discuss the ongoing landscape of the manufacturing value chain in the US.
One of the key talking points across both days was the US solar workforce and how complicated it is for cell and module manufacturers to find and retain skilled workers. This is an issue that is not limited to the solar sector and, more generally, to the clean energy industry, which saw nearly 40,000 job losses last year.
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The challenges become more significant for cell manufacturers as there is a greater need to train workers higher up the value chain and the US is expected to bring considerable new cell manufacturing capacity online in the coming years. Figures from PV Tech Research estimate that US cell manufacturing capacity could exceed 30GW by 2027, up from a negligible amount as recently as 2023.
A solution to address the shortage of skilled workers was presented by Imperial Star, with Marvin Yang, sales and business development manager at Imperial Star, speaking about the company’s strategy to hire more workers ahead of commissioning more capacity in the coming months and expanding its module assembly plant from 2GW of annual nameplate capacity to 5GW.
“We plan for expansion by developing people early. During Phase 1 in Tomball, we hired and trained 20% additional staff in key engineering, quality and operations roles,” he said, referencing his company’s work in Texas, which has become an environment where companies can benefit from an existing ecosystem of trained workers who have gone through a module assembly facility before.
“They gain hands-on experience in the existing factory so they’re ready to lead as we bring Phases 2 and 3 into production. That gives us an experienced team in place before the new lines start and ensures a smooth ramp-up to 5GW in 2027,” Yang added.
Moreover, Markus Beck, head of business development North America at RCT Solutions, recently spoke with PV Tech Premium about the skilled workforce shortage in the US (subscription required) and how it contrasts with the Indian solar manufacturing industry.
According to Beck, workforce training forms a component of virtually every project RCT undertakes in India, while in the US the company receives very few takers for its workforce training offerings.
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