Top Global Solar Manufacturers: Is the US One of Them?
Sharp Solar, based in Japan, was, until this year, the #1 manufacturer of solar cells worldwide. They are pioneers in the solar manufacturing industry, beginning research in 1959 and mass production in 1963. Sharp began designing and producing panels for residential solar energy systems in the mid-1990s. In addition to silicon solar panels, Sharp has also moved into the realm of thin-film solar cells.
As of February 2008, the German PV manufacturer Q-Cells surpassed Sharp as the #1 producer of solar cells. Founded in 1999, Q-Cells is a very young company which has risen like wildfire along with the solar industry itself. Although branching out into other solar technologies, the company has focused mainly on silicon cells. In fact, recent ascent to the top is likely due to their ability to acquire an adequate amount of silicon during the recent polysilicon shortage.
Right up there with Sharp and Q-Cells is Suntech Power Corporation. Like Q-Cells, Suntech has focused primarily on silicon based solar cells and, only founded in 2001, is even younger than its German counterpart. Suntech is also diversifying within the solar industry and last year began construction on a thin film cell production plant. These are just the top three.
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There are a slew of notable solar manufacturers around the world including BP Solar, Shell Solar, Kyocera Solar, Mitsubishi Solar, and GE Solar, which are offshoots of larger corporations. There is a noticeable lack of US companies among the list of top solar manufacturers, although several companies have divisions based in the United States.
This is not to say that the US is a slouch in the solar industry. The main reason the US is behind in manufacturing is that other countries like Germany and China were faster and more aggressive in subsidizing the solar industry. Nonetheless, the US market is growing as fast as anywhere and is a leader in the thin film, building integrated PV sector.
First Solar is a US and worldwide leader in thin film technology. Originally founded in Ohio, First Solar has a plant in Germany and plans to build more in Malaysia. And yet they are not alone.The US is a hotbed for solar energy activity, whether it be photovoltaics or thermal.
Since 2006, when federal tax incentives kicked in, new solar companies have hatched like farm chickens and the domestic solar industry has grown faster than a tree in the rainforest. As technologies develop in the US progress and the demand for renewable energy inevitably grows, then you will likely find more US solar manufacturers competing with the top dogs on a global scale.
Posted on May 7th in Solar Information by Dan.
June 4th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
I hear all the talk about the large suppliers of solar grade polysilicon, but what about the small companies around the globe. No one ever speaks of them and where they are located. Do you have any information on these companies?
Your response would be most helpful and greatly appreciated.
Fred Bridges
Global Response Trade
June 5th, 2008 at 9:13 am
You make a great point, Fred. I agree it’s a topic we should cover. Polysilicon has had a history of being in short supply, and this in turn affects the number of manufacturers out there. Look out for an upcoming post on this very subject!
June 17th, 2008 at 9:36 am
[...] Solar recently published a post on major solar manufacturers around the world and how the U.S. compared in the global PV and polysilicon market. That article [...]
August 4th, 2008 at 9:26 am
[...] has half of the world’s solar installations and is the third-largest producer of solar cells. Q-Cells, a German company, recently pulled ahead of Sharp as the world’s largest maker of [...]
December 9th, 2008 at 4:27 am
I am looking to prepare a top solar cells manufacturers, and I would love to have the right source where one can read who are the 10-15 biggest players in the field, and some information about each of them.
April 17th, 2009 at 8:49 am
I am more interested in how many manufacturing companies in the U.s. are actualy making panels and the needed equipment for them in the states and not abroad.
To me if they are taking the work of manufacturing to other countries, then they realy aren’t american manufacturers , they are foriegn, and taking work away from the american public that is so much needed at this time and again making us a service country and not a producing one
April 20th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
Jim, you make a very good point and I wholeheartedly agree with you. It has simply been cheaper to build panels overseas because of manufacturing incentives there. What we need here are similar incentives like we already have for solar power production.
For a bit more info check out this post…
http://solar.calfinder.com/blog/solar-politics/is-anybody-home-why-us-solar-manufacturers-work-overseas/
August 24th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
They have technology to watch, they can produce thin silicon from water baths. Allowing silicon to be reduced by 60% + making the solarcells much cheaper.
November 5th, 2010 at 10:48 am
[...] the recent polysilicon shortage. Right up there with Sharp and Q-Cells is Suntech Power Corporation Top Global Solar Manufacturers: Is the US One of Them? Suntech is a Chinese company, and as I have been saying for many months now this so called " [...]
November 10th, 2010 at 2:11 am
Solar a stupid waste of time because it always takes more than a decade for it to pay for itself. My house would require 10kwh to 26kwh to run everything. So I figured out I’d need about an $80,000 to $100,000 investment to do it right. But that would take 20 years to pay off. So I’d have to go at 1/2 power and be really careful at 10kwh max and that would be like $50,000. Forget Solar. And for you people with puny, shacks of homes, that’s great, but it will still take you a decade for it to pay for itself. It’s not worth it. Again, unless the prices drop drastically, it’s not worth the effort or time for batteries or aging cells that reduce in power output.
November 10th, 2010 at 10:16 am
Sorry you feel that way, but it’s not just about one act, it’s a full production. Energy efficiency, reducing your gadgets, using less, along with going solar. Do people really need 15 empty bedrooms and 10 unused bathrooms in their home? Maybe to show off to their peers, but ultimately no. That’s the real waste of money. Image if you had purchased a home half that size. You’d have enough money left over to pay for the solar system. It wouldn’t matter how long it took to pay back because you already saved money by not having to heat and cool entire wings of a home no one has been in since 2003. That’s the beauty of going green.
August 7th, 2011 at 6:38 pm
[...] Solar recently published a post on major solar manufacturers around the world and how the U.S. compared in the global PV and polysilicon market. That article [...]
August 15th, 2011 at 11:46 am
[...] has half of the world’s solar installations and is the third-largest producer of solar cells. Q-Cells, a German company, recently pulled ahead of Sharp as the world’s largest maker of [...]