Catalyst with Shayle Kann — Episode Summary

Episode: "Scaling America's Domestic Solar Supply Chain"

Date: March 19, 2026
Host: Shayle Kann
Guest: Scott Moskowitz, VP of Market Strategy and Public Affairs, Qcells; Board Chair, Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA)

Main Theme

This episode explores the state and future of America's domestic solar supply chain—how far has it come, what challenges remain, and what it will take for the US to become a fully self-sufficient and globally competitive solar manufacturing powerhouse. Shayle Kann and industry leader Scott Moskowitz discuss the impact of policy, market economics, and industrial strategy, drawing on both personal experience and the dramatic shifts in the solar sector over the past decade.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why a Domestic Solar Supply Chain Matters

• Resilience & Security:
  • Scott Moskowitz (04:38): "We want to have supply chains domestically as much as we can, in particular for critical sectors like energy."
  • Lessons from the pandemic and geopolitical shifts have highlighted vulnerabilities in global supply chains.
• From Cheap to Durable:
  • Scott: The focus has shifted from purely low cost ("how do we make renewables as cheap as possible?") to supply chain location, resilience, and durability.

2. Historical Context

• Early dominance by Germany, then shift to China which drove down costs via massive scale.
• Subsequent shift to Southeast Asia, but with Chinese companies leading.
• US resurgence is primarily policy-driven, especially through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
• Shayle (05:32): “Germany basically lost the battle to China; China scaled and took over and drove costs down.”

3. Structure of the US Solar Supply Chain

• Four Key Steps: Polysilicon → Wafer → Cell → Module assembly.
• Current Status (08:02):
  • Module Assembly: Now largely domestic; 40-50 GW/year capacity—sufficient to meet US demand.
  • Polysilicon: Historically decent domestic supply (10-20 GW), but few major players.
  • Wafers & Cells: Prior to the IRA, virtually no domestic factories; now a couple of companies beginning to produce, but still limited capacity. Qcells and Hemlock are leading investments.
  • The market is at "stage 2" of 4: investment and movement towards self-sufficiency, but not yet globally competitive.
  • Scott (09:31): “We’re kind of at part two of hopefully a four-step process of where the industry really builds itself back up.”

4. Why Module Assembly and Polysilicon Led US Domestic Activity

• Polysilicon: Dominated by electricity costs, not labor—advantaged by cheap US energy.
• Modules: Bulky, so shipping costs favor domestic production. Module factories are highly automated but still create hundreds of good jobs.
• Cells & Wafers: Technically more complicated, higher capital investment, more challenging to reshore.

5. Cost Competitiveness & Policy Impact

• US vs China:
  • Hard to direct compare due to hidden subsidies in China.
  • US-made panels are more expensive but still cost-competitive with other energy sources domestically.
  • Scott (12:53): “Even when a product is made in the United States...it is still cost competitive with other forms of technology.”
• 45X Tax Credit and domestic content requirements are helping close the gap, but US panels are still at 30¢/watt vs. global norms of 10¢/watt.
• Economies of Scale: US needs larger plants and more clustering to bring costs down.

6. The Challenge of Building a Domestic Supply Ecosystem

• Supplier Clustering:
  • China benefits from local clusters of suppliers (equipment, materials, etc.); the US must build these from scratch.
  • Scott (17:09): “It's one of the critical first steps...you have to find a contractor to build a wafer factory that's never built a wafer factory before...work with local permitting jurisdictions that have definitely never permitted a solar cell or wafer factory before.”
• Auto Industry Analogy: The Southeast US has become a hub for car manufacturing due to multi-decade, multi-company investment; solar could follow the same path.

7. Why Qcells Chose Full Vertical Integration

• Motivated by pandemic supply chain disruptions and forced labor policy (Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act).
• Customers now demand traceability and domestication for every component.
• Investments in fully vertically integrated factories (e.g., Cartersville, GA) and in US polysilicon capacity.
• Incentives like 45X tax credits were critical to making these decisions possible.

8. Are Others Following Suit?

• Success Stories: Clean energy is a rare manufacturing growth sector in the US.
• Bottlenecks: Global oversupply, especially from China, delays further reshoring; policy and permitting delays slow the transition to full self-sufficiency.

9. The Price Gap & Policy Trade-Offs

• Paying a Premium: US modules cost ~3x global average.
  • Shayle (25:24): "How do you reconcile your feelings about the fact that we are building a domestic supply chain but paying three times the cost?"
  • Scott (26:08): "We're not at the end goal... You really need industrial strategy to...scale it and make sure it's economically competitive."
• Continuity and certainty in industrial policy are necessary to support long-term growth and price reductions.

10. Lucky Timing: Demand Boom Offsets Price Premium

• Recent demand spikes for new energy (data centers, AI, electrification) mean higher solar costs are still competitive, and the market readily absorbs US-made panels.
• Shayle (27:37): Suggests the US “got lucky with the timing” of policy and demand.
• Multiple factors, including financing costs and general inflation, contribute to high PPA prices, but solar remains fast and affordable in relative terms.

11. Industrial Policy and the Importance of Jobs

• Jobs Multiplier:
  • When the full supply chain is domestic, the job impact grows dramatically.
  • Scott (30:16): "They were installing twice as much, [but China] had 10 times as many jobs. It was a matter of the supply chain."
• National Interest: US should aim for export competitiveness, not just domestic supply ('We want to be a player in this market').

12. Keeping Pressure on Cost Reduction

• Shayle (34:29): Recalls an old paper setting a cost target of 25¢/watt installed—urges the industry not to get complacent, given rising costs.
• Soft Costs Remain: Even as hardware gets cheaper, soft costs (permitting, installation, customer acquisition) remain stubbornly high, especially residential.

13. The Hardest Choke Point in Scaling Up

• Economics Still Rule: Despite policy support and local demand, it's tough to compete against global market scale and persistent imports.
• Scott (36:06): "You really need customers that are going to give you assurances...long term commitment both from customers, from government and others."
• Capital Market Differences: US investors expect factories to last decades, but technological turnover may make factories obsolete in five years; China is accustomed to the rapid boom-bust cycle.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "We build things that are new in the United States all the time. It's just a matter of getting that infrastructure in place and doing the education work." — Scott Moskowitz, 17:17
• "Even when a product is made in the United States...it is still cost competitive with other forms of technology." — Scott Moskowitz, 12:53
• "We are still the cheapest and fastest thing to deploy in every scenario—even at 30 cents a watt if we're made in the US." — Scott Moskowitz, 30:16
• "You really need industrial strategy to say we're going to continue to invest in this market... That is still a work in progress." — Scott Moskowitz, 26:08
• "There are two rules of thumb. One, demand grows faster than people think it will. And two, prices fall faster than people think they will." — Scott Moskowitz, 36:56

Key Timestamps

• 04:38 – Why domestic solar supply chain matters (Scott)
• 08:02 – Step-by-step US manufacturing status
• 12:53 – Cost competitiveness of US vs. China
• 17:09 – Challenges of building from scratch in the US
• 19:17 – Why Qcells vertically integrated; impact of trade, pandemic, and forced labor policy
• 23:28 – Industrial policy, market timing, China's 'flood' of exports
• 25:24 – Price premium for US solar
• 27:37 – Demand window makes high prices palatable
• 29:27 – Energy politics, data center-driven demand, and global trends
• 30:16 – Political and jobs rationale for domestic solar
• 34:29 – Call for more ambitious cost targets
• 36:06 – Biggest choke point in scaling supply chain

Tone & Style

The episode is technical but accessible, weaving in policy, economics, and industry anecdotes. Both host and guest are candid, knowledgeable, and pepper the conversation with humor and industry-insider references (“solar will eat itself,” “Jenny Chase from Bloomberg would say…”). There’s a sense of urgency and optimism—recognizing both how far the US has come and how much remains to be done.

Conclusion

Kann and Moskowitz paint a picture of a US solar manufacturing industry at a crucial inflection point. Policy support has brought it back from the brink and enabled key steps in domestic manufacturing, but full self-sufficiency and global competitiveness remain challenging. Strategic vision, consistent government support, and willingness to compete on price and scale will be key to the next phase. The conversation closes on a personal, positive note, as former colleagues reflect on the evolution of both the industry and their own careers.

Listen to the episode for deeper context and more stories from the front lines of US solar manufacturing!