Now that Musk is actively opposing the massed democrat party, he is now eligible for attacks on his (previously-lauded) subsidies for (ultimately failing) solar projects.
/Solendra billions under Obama
There are lots of US made solar panel companies.
This is a list I just pulled off the internet.
Here’s the full list, according to the DOE, as of November 2023:
Manufacturer
State
Annual Capacity
Auxin Solar California 150 MW
Crossroads Solar Indiana 50 MW
First Solar Ohio 6,300 MW
GAF Energy California 50 MW
Heliene Minnesota 600 MW
Hightec Solar Indiana 100 MW
Jinko Solar Florida 400 MW
Merlin Solar California 5 MW
Mission Solar Texas 300 MW
Qcells Georgia 5,100 MW
Silfab Solar Washington 400 MW
Solaria California 40 MW
SPI Energy / Solar4America California 700 MW
Sunspark USA / SolarMax Technology California 250 MW
SunTegra New York 10 MW
Toledo Solar Ohio 100 MW
The largest above is First Solar out of Ohio. They don’t make panels for residential applications. None of the above manufacturers are even close to the largest companies in China.
Here is a list of the biggest ones in the world:
Manufacturer
Country Of Origin
Capacity (2022)
LONGi China 45,000+ MW
Trina Solar China ~43,000 MW
Jinko Solar China 42,000+ MW
JA Solar China 39,750 MW
Canadian Solar Canada 21,100 MW
The largest US maker (First solar) makes 15% of the product LONGi makes.
The biggest issue with the Tesla Solar roof is that in addition to selling you the roof panels they alos want you to buy a Tesla battery panel. Which adds $12-20K onto the whole install.
Most people just want to put panels on their roof and get NET metering back from their utility. Most people do not want to be OFF Grid.
I looked into building a solar array at my house briefly. I would not have put one on my roof.
I got a quote from Mission Solar out of Texas that would have shipped the entire package to my house. I would have had to build a frame, dig the trench and run all the wires.
I would then hire my local electrician to hook it up.