The War Against Solar Power Is Doomed To Fail

Support CleanTechnica’s work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe.

Or support our Kickstarter campaign!

Despite the sharp U-turn in federal energy policy, demand for solar power in the US continues apace, and the domestic solar industry is rising to the occasion. The latest development involves the introduction of new, high efficiency TOPCon solar cells into the US market, leveraging new domestic manufacturing facilities. What was that again about bringing back coal power?

More TOPCon Solar Cells For The US

TOPCon is short for tunnel Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact. Loosely speaking, TOPCon solar cells are fabricated with an extra layer that reflects more light back into the cell, boosting solar conversion efficiency.

Researchers in Germany first introduced the technology back in 2013, but high production costs inhibited its transfer to commercial markets while another competing technology, PERC (short for Passivated Emitter and Rear Contact) gained more market share.

Talon is among the solar stakeholders aiming to turn the tables in favor of TOPCon technology. As of late last year, Talon was on track to construct a 4.8-gigawatt TOPCon solar cell factory in its home state of Texas. Earlier today, the company announced a big step forward with the signing of a supply agreement with the German firm NexWafe GmbH.

NexWafe manufacturers monocrystalline silicon wafers that are compatible with today’s high-volume production facilities.

At six years and potentially longer, the terms of the Talon-NexWafe agreement underscore the ability of the US solar industry to support new manufacturing ventures, regardless of federal energy policy. “Under the agreement, NexWafe and Talon anticipate wafer supply volumes initially through 2032, representing a cumulative total of approximately 7 gigawatts of advanced silicon wafers to support Talon’s planned U.S. cell production,” Talon explained in a press statement.

“The partnership aligns Talon’s planned 4.8 GW TOPCon cell manufacturing facility in Baytown, Texas with NexWafe’s EpiNex® wafer platform, initially produced from NexWafe’s pilot-scale operations in Bitterfeld, Germany,” Talon elaborates.

Even More TOPCon For The USA

That’s just for starters. NexWafe is already anticipating that the partnership with Talon will pave the way for additional multi-gigawatt manufacturing ventures in the US. The two partners are also working with the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany to put the current generation of TOPCon technology through the qualification process, while also working on further improvements.

“The partnership will focus on advanced wafer material quality, ultra-low oxygen content, and next-generation junction engineering approaches to enable higher efficiency and long-term reliability in N-type solar cells,” Talon explains.

While all that is going on, the Japanese startup Toyo Solar is also pushing the TOPCon envelope in the US. The company has a 1-gigawatt facility under way in Houston, Texas. As of last fall, the facility reached the trial production phase. “As operations scale, TOYO anticipates robust demand from utility-scale developers seeking reliable and domestically manufactured modules that qualify for favorable tax incentives,” TOYO noted in a press statement dated October 14.

On January 7 of this year, TOYO also announced a supply agreement with a to-be-named US polysilicon manufacturer. “The Supplier is recognized as the leading polysilicon producer in the United States, offering significant scale and a proven track record of reliability,” TOYO notes.

“The supply of polysilicon from the Supplier underpins TOYO’s ongoing investment in U.S. manufacturing capacity, aligning with its mission to be a leading solar supplier in the U.S. market,” the company adds.

Everybody Wants Solar Power

Another player in the TOPCon field is Jinko Solar, and that company is also laying big plans for the US market. On February 17, the US firm Nextpower announced a new multi-year supply agreement with Jinko.

“Under the agreement, Nextpower plans to supply more than one gigawatt (GW) of steel frames, scalable to up to 3 GW over a three-year period, to support module manufacturing in Jinko Solar’s Jacksonville, Fla. facility, with production expected mid-2026,” Nextpower stated.

“This supply arrangement helps underscore the growing market adoption of steel frames as a more structurally durable, cost-effective solution for tier-one solar modules while further localizing the U.S. supply chain,” the company added.

“This agreement with Jinko Solar represents clear market validation of steel frames as a reliable and cost-effective solution that supports both module durability and U.S. manufacturing priorities,” emphasized NextPower founder and CEO Dan Shugar. “It also reinforces how the U.S. solar industry is industrializing, aligning domestic manufacturing, policy incentives, and proven technology at gigawatt scale.”

In a new report posted on January 16, the US Energy Information Agency also provided solar stakeholders with a cheery outlook. “We expect the combined share of generation from solar power and wind power to rise from about 18% in 2025 to about 21% in 2027,” US EIA reported.

“In our STEO forecast, utility-scale solar is the fastest-growing source of electricity generation in the United States, increasing from 290 BkWh in 2025 to 424 BkWh by 2027,” the agency added, with STEO being shorthand for Short Term Energy Outlook.

“Almost 70 gigawatts (GW) of new solar generating capacity projects are scheduled to come online in 2026 and 2027, which represents a 49% increase in U.S. solar operating capacity compared with the end of 2025,” EIA also noted.

As described by EIA, while natural gas, coal, and nuclear will continue to dominate the domestic power generation profile over the next two years, their share will decline. “The three main dispatchable sources of electricity generation (natural gas, coal, and nuclear) accounted for 75% of total generation in 2025, but we expect the share of generation from these sources will fall to about 72% in 2027,” the agency added.

The Agrivoltaic Angle

To be clear, the US solar industry continues to face formidable headwinds. Alongside today’s backwards-looking federal energy policy, state and local lawmakers, and local residents, have all been hammering obstructions into the path of the energy transition with a healthy assist from fossil fuel stakeholders.

Still, momentum keeps building as property owners seek to monetize brownfields and other underused sites for solar power. Keep an eye on the agrivoltaic field, where the newly minted organization Solar and Farming Association is connecting land owners with solar power plants designed to support farm activities.

A similarly oriented organization, Farmers Powering Communities, launched last fall with a focus on repurposing marginal lands and existing rural infrastructure for solar development.

Photo: More solar power plants for the USA: the solar manufacturer Talon PV has taken another step towards the construction of a 4.8-gigawatt TOPCon solar manufacturing facility, to be located in Texas (cropped, courtesy of Talon via Fraunhofer ISE).