Mar 19, 2026 · 41m · catalyst
Scaling America's domestic solar supply chain
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
Host Shail Khan and Qcells VP Scott Moskowitz examine the operational, economic, and policy challenges of building a domestic solar manufacturing supply chain across the United States. They explore how federal incentives, industrial clustering, and surging power demand from AI data centers can overcome global price disparities and upstream manufacturing bottlenecks.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Shayle holds 33.8% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Shayle as informed peer 6.7 Guest teaching 4.3 Guest disagreement 0.3 Shayle pushing back 2.7
speaking balance: gold is Shayle, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 28:52 Moskowitz challenges Kann's attribution of rising PPA prices
Moskowitz immediately pushes back on Kann's premise that module pricing drove PPA increases, asking whether financing costs and broader inflation are the true drivers.
Hardest push from Shayle ▶ 25:31 Kann presses on the US solar cost discrepancyKann bluntly challenges the sustainability of domestic manufacturing when US buyers pay triple the global benchmark module price.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 31:00 Moskowitz illustrates China's 10x solar job advantageMoskowitz educates the host with IRENA statistics showing China captured 3 million jobs versus 250,000 in the US despite only installing twice as much solar, proving the value of upstream supply chain control.
Shayle holds their own ▶ 32:41 Kann cites his 2015 Nature Energy paper on aggressive cost targetsKann demonstrates deep subject matter authority by referencing his 2015 paper advocating for a 25-cent fully installed target and refusing to let the industry accept rising PPA prices.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Shayle as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Shayle pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Strategic Imperative for Domestic Solar Manufacturing | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | Kann opens with an informed historical summary tracing solar manufacturing from Germany to China, Southeast Asia, and back to the US. Moskowitz agrees smoothly, framing reshoring around resilience and durability. | |
| Mapping the US Silicon Solar Supply Chain | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | Kann outlines the domestic barbell structure of polysilicon and module assembly, prompting Moskowitz to detail capacity numbers across REC, Hemlock, and Wacker while explaining the low power cost requirements of poly manufacturing. | |
| Cost Structures, Section 45X, and Scale Economics | 6 | 5 | 0 | 2 | Kann presses for a detailed cost stack comparison between domestic production and Chinese imports. Moskowitz walks through construction capex disparities, Section 45X subsidies, and economies of scale. | |
| Supply Clustering and Qcells' Integrated Factory Strategy | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | Kann inquires into supplier clustering and the calculus behind Qcells building a fully integrated wafer-to-module plant. Moskowitz explains the impact of the pandemic and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act on traceability. | |
| Sponsor Announcements: Power and Energy Infrastructure Solutions | 7 | 4 | 1 | 5 | Following the mid-roll sponsor break, Kann directly challenges Moskowitz on how to justify paying 30 cents per watt in the US when global prices are 10 cents. Moskowitz defends the delta as a necessary transition phase requiring policy continuity. | |
| Rising Demand, Geopolitical Shocks, and Cost Discipline | 8 | 4 | 1 | 6 | Kann pushes back firmly on industry complacency regarding rising PPA prices, citing his published 2015 paper co-authored with Varun Sivaram demanding aggressive cost targets. Moskowitz acknowledges the critique while pointing to soft costs and macro power demand. | |
| Capital Market Realities and Federal De-risking Roles | 7 | 4 | 0 | 2 | Kann brings up capital market disparities, contrasting US 20-year underwriting expectations against China's rapid plant obsolescence cycles. Moskowitz points to the Loan Programs Office as a crucial de-risking mechanism. |
Statements from this episode (14)
Moskowitz: Inflation Reduction Act made domestic solar reshoring economically feasible
“You know, you had trade policy, which kept the industry alive for a long time. It didn't necessarily allow it to reach the scale that it is now. But, you know, I think there'd been a focus and an effort to reshore, you know, even prior to the Inflation Reducti…”
Moskowitz: Nearly all solar panels purchased in the US are domestically assembled
“And, you know, we're at a point now where, you know, if you're a buyer of solar panels in the United States, pretty much every panel you're going to get is at least domestically assembled.”
Moskowitz: US domestic solar module capacity of 40-50 GW meets total demand
“And, you know, at the moment, we have enough module capacity to supply U.S. Demand. That's, you know, 40 to 50 gigawatts a year, and there's probably even more than that.”
Moskowitz: Only Qcells and Hemlock Corning produce solar wafers in the US
“At the moment, there's only two companies, Qcells and Hemlock Corning, that are making wafers, are about to start making wafers in the United States.”
Moskowitz: US-made solar remains cost-competitive with other energy sources on LCOE
“Even when a product is made in the United States, and in solar, solar specifically, It is still cost competitive with other forms of technology. You look at Lazard's LCOE models and those cost charts, solar is always going to be right on the bottom, and that i…”
Moskowitz: US solar plants compete globally against massive 5-20 gigawatt facilities
“We've had a bunch of, like, a couple hundred megawatt plants here and there, but we're competing on a global basis for five, 10, 20 gigawatt type plants.”
Moskowitz: Clean energy is the only expanding US manufacturing sector
“Manufacturing as a whole has contracted in the United States over the last five years, except for clean energy manufacturing.”
Moskowitz: Post-IRA US clean tech manufacturing investment surged more than fivefold
“Rhodium had reports of, you know, how much investment came out in the two years following the IRA is relative to before it, in this sector in particular, and it was five times easily.”
Kann: US solar modules cost roughly three times the global average price
“We pay 30 cents a watt for solar modules in the US or something like that, and the global average price is probably 10 cents a watt.”
Kann: US solar power purchase agreement prices have risen in recent years
“Solar PPA prices have gone up over the past couple of years, not down, which is a narrative violation for some people, but it's true.”
Moskowitz: US solar at 30 cents per watt remains cheapest to deploy
“The reality is, is, again, even at 30 cents a watt, and if we're made in the U.S., we are still the cheapest and fastest thing to deploy in pretty much every scenario.”
Moskowitz: China supported 3 million solar jobs while installing twice US capacity
“If you looked at the jobs figures for how much the U.S. Had versus how much China had, It was like, 250,000 jobs in the U.S. And three million in China. So they were installing twice as much, but they had 10 times as many jobs.”
Moskowitz: Domestic manufacturing creates the political power necessary to scale deployment
“When you have a manufacturing basis, you have political power. You have Lots and lots of durable, really good jobs that you want to support, and that's one of the reasons I think China went from, you know, installing two times as much solar as the U.S. To 10 t…”
Moskowitz: Chinese solar manufacturing yields cheap, durable, and high-quality products
“Solar panel manufacturing, especially to the extent that it's clustered in China, is, you know, these products are incredible. They last for a long time, they're cheap, they're, they are we continue to have them get better, but they're really, really incredibl…”