Solar grew fast in 2021, setting the U.S. on a path to get nearly half of its electricity from solar by 2050. Policy played an important role in getting us to this point. In signing the more than $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, President Biden laid the foundation for continued solar growth in the U.S.
We’ve taken some tremendous steps, but there is work that still needs to be done, in both the type of solar technology we’re deploying and where it’s made.
Senator Jon Ossoff from Georgia and Representatives Mikie Sherill (NJ-11) and Bill Pascrell, Jr. (NJ-09) have been staunch and vocal advocates for spurring the next generation in solar technology: solar roofs. By introducing the RAISE the Roof Act this summer, their leadership has put the issue of solar roofing on the map and paved the way for future action.
In addition, Senator Ossoff’s Solar Energy Manufacturing for America Act remains in play as the Congressional calendar marches onward.. GAF Energy believes it’s important to establish solar manufacturing in the U.S. Senator Ossoff agrees.
“We have a clear and compelling national interest in building our industrial base, manufacturing capacity and technological innovation, in developing more energy independence and national security interest, in not being reliant upon certain foreign markets for some of these components and technologies,” Ossoff recently said. “It’s a unifying issue, and it should be a unifying issue.”
Most solar manufacturing has moved off-shore over the past several decades, leaving the U.S. solar industry vulnerable to supply chain challenges and major increases in shipping costs. Senator Ossoff’s bill would help remedy that imbalance.
Solar roofs may be the key to a rebirth of U.S. renewable energy manufacturing. In San Jose, GAF Energy’s recently-completed R&D and manufacturing facility—where we are building our next-generation solar roof product—is the first new solar roof manufacturing plant established in the U.S. in years.
With the infrastructure bill passed and signed, we have a strong foundation for building solar growth in the U.S. Some of the next steps for Congress are to recognize the market potential of solar roofs and to solidify America’s domestic solar manufacturing industry.