The US solar industry has a supply problem
The US solar industry has a supply problem Most of the world’s polysilicon is made in China, and the US solar industry is encouraging suppliers to increase production elsewhere. Solar companies argue that a less-concentrated supply chain will be more resilient, emit less carbon, and circumvent companies accused of using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The US and Indian governments recently added momentum to this endeavor, pledging billions of dollars to scale up domestic solar manufacturing and guarantee future access to clean energy. Some companies are already responding. Reliance Energy says it will spend $7.5 billion on a green energy manufacturing hub in India that will include polysilicon production. The other two companies that make polysilicon in the US—Hemlock Semiconductor and REC Silicon—are also ramping up production. Hemlock turned on idle capacity for solar-grade polysilicon at its plant in Michigan this summer, and REC Silicon plans t...