American solar panels are becoming more and more popular with consumers.  With each passing day, it seems that renewable energy gets more attention as more people realize what scientists have been saying for decades: non-renewable energy is causing us problems. American companies jumped into the solar panel manufacturing game decades ago, and since then, quite a few other countries have begun production.  The result of all the competition and research has been increased efficiency, better and less expensive solar panels, and a rise to power of the Chinese solar power industry.  This in turn led to tariffs being imposed on imported Chinese panels which encouraged many Chinese (and other Asian manufacturers) to open manufacturing plants in the United States.  One such example is Hanwha.  They are a South Korean company with a large solar panel manufacturing plant in Georgia.  Finding solar panels made in America from an American manufacturer can be problematic due to these logistics and confusing marketing tactics.

The difference between an American company and American made is exactly that.  When it comes to where a company is based, the locations of any satellite offices or facilities are irrelevant. The country in which the company is incorporated is considered that company’s home country. An American company, then, is one incorporated in the United States.  When it comes to whether something is American made, though, it gets a little hazier, and we have to decode labels to know exactly the provenance of the product in question.  Assembled in USA.  This seemingly straightforward statement actually relies on semantics. The parts of something with this label will be imported parts that were only put together in the US.  Sure, American workers got paid to assemble it, but it’s not made in America.  Made is USA products with this label will have very few (if any) components not made in the United States. Any part manufactured outside the States cannot be an integral one.  Go green with American solar panels.  As a solar consulting firm we work with many American solar panel manufacturers, including Solaria and Mission Solar, to name a couple.