U.S. solar and storage manufacturing jobs expected to grow to 115,000 by 2030

PV Tech:

After the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) into law, solar PV and storage are expected to create up to 115,000 manufacturing workers in the US by 2030.

That is according to a paper from the trade body the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) that sees the possibility for the US to reshore the PV supply chain in the medium and long term to build a domestic solar industry which could itself lead to more than 507,000 jobs across the entire industry.

“The tides have turned in the solar manufacturing business landscape thanks to the IRA, and the announcements already made will create up to 80,000 high-quality, family-supporting jobs,” said Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO at SEIA.

The country is currently able to produce metallurgical grade silicon, polysilicon, steel, aluminium, resins, racking and mountings and other key materials but in the short term, US module factories have to rely on importing cells and wafers while cell, wafer and ingot facilities are built to provide domestic production.

Southeast Asia is at the moment the largest supplier of solar cells and modules to the US. However, China currently represents more than 80% of the solar PV manufacturing supply chain and is expected to increase in the coming years.

[Jonathan Tourino Jacobo]

More: IRA to grow US solar and storage manufacturing workforce to 115,000 by 2030 – SEIA