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The solar farm construction plot is ignoring that the us doesn't make the solar panels. That sort of manufacturing is strongly effected by pollution regulations

The solar farm construction plot is ignoring that the us doesn't make the solar panels. That sort of manufacturing is strongly effected by pollution regulations, that appear to be largely absent or ignored in the country where they are made. Tariffs for the express purpose of deglobalization may be argued about, but tariffs to include ignored externalities seem like they should be largely uncontroversial.

jvanderbot 2y ago
It does not ignore that - it plots exactly what it plots, total solar watts installed per person. If your claim is that we don't "build" the solar panels, and therefore that's not a meaningful metric to include in a article about building things, I guess that's fine. But for civic / personal construction projects, it's perfectly fine to say "we scouted, permitted, and built a ton of things including solar farms", regardless of where the raw materials were sourced.
toomuchtodo 2y ago
US solar PV module manufacturing is approaching self sufficiency for domestic demand (~40GW/year). Cell manufacturing does need to catch up, but that is not impossible to accomplish. This is a direct result of the Inflation Reduction Act. https://cleantechnica.com/2025/01/03/us-solar-manufacturing-is-soaring-new-facts/ https://cleantechnica.com/2025/01/03/us-solar-manufacturing-... https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/solar/the-us-can-almost-make-all-the-solar-modules-it-needs/ https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/solar/the-us-can-almost... https://seia.org/blog/american-solar-manufacturing-is-back-and-its-big/ https://seia.org/blog/american-solar-manufacturing-is-back-a... https://seia.org/research-resources/us-solar-market-insight/ https://seia.org/research-resources/us-solar-market-insight/
- soco 2y ago
  I guess the OP really meant cell manufacturing, otherwise we are just playing mounting imported bricks - because whether directly in farms or first in panels no big difference for the mentioned independence.
  - toomuchtodo 2y ago
    Building supply chains takes time. Time to bootstrap is not the same as "we can't." https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/solar-manufacturing-map https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/solar-manufacturing-map
r00fus 2y ago
I predict the same thing will eventually happen for cars, if the US continues to fail to compete with China. Eventually China (either directly or through some friendshore country) will have a local dealer network in the US and Chinese-designed EVs will completely disrupt the ICE market here.

jvanderbot 2y ago

It does not ignore that - it plots exactly what it plots, total solar watts installed per person. If your claim is that we don't "build" the solar panels, and therefore that's not a meaningful metric to include in a article about building things, I guess that's fine. But for civic / personal construction projects, it's perfectly fine to say "we scouted, permitted, and built a ton of things including solar farms", regardless of where the raw materials were sourced.

toomuchtodo 2y ago

US solar PV module manufacturing is approaching self sufficiency for domestic demand (~40GW/year). Cell manufacturing does need to catch up, but that is not impossible to accomplish. This is a direct result of the Inflation Reduction Act. https://cleantechnica.com/2025/01/03/us-solar-manufacturing-is-soaring-new-facts/ https://cleantechnica.com/2025/01/03/us-solar-manufacturing-... https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/solar/the-us-can-almost-make-all-the-solar-modules-it-needs/ https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/solar/the-us-can-almost... https://seia.org/blog/american-solar-manufacturing-is-back-and-its-big/ https://seia.org/blog/american-solar-manufacturing-is-back-a... https://seia.org/research-resources/us-solar-market-insight/ https://seia.org/research-resources/us-solar-market-insight/

soco 2y ago
I guess the OP really meant cell manufacturing, otherwise we are just playing mounting imported bricks - because whether directly in farms or first in panels no big difference for the mentioned independence.
- toomuchtodo 2y ago
  Building supply chains takes time. Time to bootstrap is not the same as "we can't." https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/solar-manufacturing-map https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/solar-manufacturing-map

r00fus 2y ago

I predict the same thing will eventually happen for cars, if the US continues to fail to compete with China. Eventually China (either directly or through some friendshore country) will have a local dealer network in the US and Chinese-designed EVs will completely disrupt the ICE market here.