America is reinvesting in its domestic solar supply chain. Since passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, companies have built or planned 155 gigawatts of production capacity for modules, cells, wafers, and power electronics in the U.S. But there is still a missing piece: a solution to foreign-sourced aluminum.
The solar industry is highly dependent on imported aluminum for frames, mostly from China. This leaves suppliers more exposed to geopolitics, supply disruptions, higher-cost transportation, and higher embodied emissions.
Aluminum frames are also contributing to emerging field failure issues. They are more susceptible to breakage from extreme weather and loading on trackers – a problem that has increased in recent years, as the size of modules have increased, aluminum frames are getting smaller, and extreme weather has gotten more prevalent.
But Origami Solar, founded by a group of solar industry veterans, argues that switching from aluminum to recycled American steel can drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, strengthen and de-risk the solar supply chain, and improve module performance – while also qualifying for domestic content requirements.
In this Frontier Forum, we explore an overlooked piece of the U.S. solar supply chain: the transition from aluminum to steel. Origami CEO Gregg Patterson, who has built two successful solar and battery companies, makes the economic, performance, and security case for shifting the way we make PV module frames. And MJ Shiao, VP of supply chain and manufacturing for the American Clean Power Association, outlines the nuances of U.S. domestic content policies and global solar supply chains.
