How the US Lost the Solar Power Race To China

The US solar industry's decline is often attributed to China's "unfair trade practices," but this is a misconception. China's dominance in the solar industry comes from private businesses believing in a promising future and investing heavily, attracting global talent. The fall of the US as a solar superpower is due to corporate leadership, timid financing, complacency, and policy chaos, allowing Chinese startups to fill the gap. To understand this, one can look at Hemlock, Michigan, which used to produce a quarter of the world's PV-grade polysilicon, and Leshan, China, now home to major polysilicon factories. The story highlights how the US won the 20th century's technological battle but risks losing its way in the decades ahead. The core questions surrounding subsidies and industrial policies are often difficult to answer, and determining whether certain initiatives are considered "statist industrial policy" or "building a business-friendly environment" largely depends on whether they are done by a foreign government or one's own.