Highland Materials’ US silicon production could be a game changer for the US solar industry, as China continues to dominate global polysilicon production. The company has announced tax credits as part of a wave of investment into over 100 projects to accelerate clean energy manufacturing and recycling in industrial facilities in the US. This is particularly significant as Chinese-made products account for 79.4% of the world’s polysilicons in 2021, up from 28.6% a decade earlier. The Solar Energy Manufacturers for America (SEMA) Coalition has called on the government to address this imbalance, suggesting the lack of US-based solar supply chain is a disadvantage for the industry. Highland Materials will also use a new manufacturing process at the facility, which he calls a “naturally occurring process of segregation”.
Solar Dominates US Energy Capacity Growth
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has published data showing that solar accounted for over 75% of US electrical generating
