# Solar Export US :Uh We Make $5.6 Billion here!

- Link: https://greenlivingguy.com/2011/11/solar-export-us-uh-we-make-u-s-exports-5-6-billion-last-year/
- Published: 2011-11-02T22:18:38-04:00
- Author: greenlivingguy

A new report shows that the U.S. is central to the global solar supply chain. In
2010, U.S. solar firms achieved a positive trade flow of $1.9 billion globally, 
according to GTM Research and SEIA®’s [**U.S. Solar Energy Trade Assessment 2011**](https://forms.greentechmedia.com/af2?LinkID=CH00095679eR00000060AD).
Photovoltaic (PV) components accounted for more than 99% of the year’s exports, 
with solar heating and cooling (SHC) claiming the remainder of the positive balance.

## US PV Manufacturing 2010 Record Year

For the U.S. PV manufacturing industry, 2010 was a record year. Exports totaled 
more than $5.6 billion, with PV polysilicon feedstock and capital equipment leading
all components at $2.5 billion and $1.4 billion, respectively. The leading destinations
for U.S.-sourced PV components were China and Germany.

Meanwhile, U.S. imports of PV products totaled $3.7 billion, the majority of which(
$2.4 billion) came from procurement of modules assembled overseas. China and Mexico
were the top two sources of PV goods headed to the U.S. in 2010.

![ABB wins $80 million order to power Canada’s largest solar photovoltaic plant 
1](https://i0.wp.com/greenlivingguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/solarpic.jpg?
w=736&quality=52&ssl=1)

### PV Solar Numbers Don’t Lie

As Treehugger reports:  Who says the US doesn’t make anything anymore? We make solar
panels! Or, at least, we make the stuff that makes solar [panels](https://greenlivingguy.com/2020/01/solar-panels-how-work-can-use-their-power/).
And then we export it, raking in $1.9 billion annually. We export $5.6 billion worth
of goods, and import $3.7 billion. Exporting solar power is actually a booming business
in the US. For a [new report from the Solar Energy Trade Association](https://forms.greentechmedia.com/Extranet/95679/forms.aspx?msgid=3mfhivdpsy5vsfmhv24cgpad)
reveals. For it’s one of the few sectors where we actually have a trade surplus 
with China.

### China is NOT Eating Our Lunch on Solar. Period!

That’s despite the omnipresent reportage insisting that nation is already eating
our lunch when it comes to renewables. In other words, solar exports are already
a major boon to our economy.

However, the policies that have enabled this boom are set to expire soon, and that
could lead to a major slowdown in this important, fast-growing industry.

Stephen Lacey at  Renewable Energy World points out that the new figures represent
a “$1 billion increase over net exports documented in the solar sector last year.
In fact, a [ report released this morning from GTM Research](https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/us-solar-industry-was-net-global-exporter-in-2010)
and the Solar Energy Industries Association found that the U.S. has a $247 million
trade surplus with China.”

It turns out that while we import the modules — that’s where all those stories about
solar PV manufacturing moving to China come in. So we’re exporting polysilicon (
an $873 million industry); as well as a bunch of solar equipment. As Lacey adds 
here in part, that solar isn’t just about the panels or modules. When looking at
polysilicon production. For there’s the equipment for manufacturing lines. The power
electronics and solar hot water tanks. In addition, any number of other domestically-
produced products. For the U.S. actually offers a good-sized contribution. I mean
to the global market.

Sources: ET List, [Treehugger](https://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/us-exported-56-billion-in-solar-goods-last-year.html),
[GreenTechMedia](https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/us-solar-industry-was-net-global-exporter-in-2010)