News > Why the U.S. Doesn’t Dominate the Solar-Panel Industry Anymore

Why the U.S. Doesn’t Dominate the Solar-Panel Industry Anymore

America invented silicon solar cells in the 1950s. American companies dominated the global solar market and registered most solar patents in the 60s and 70s. 

However, starting in the 1980s, leadership in the industry passed to Japan, then to China. Today, only one of the world’s 10 largest makers of solar cells is American. This is probably because invention and globalization has been part of the background hum of the American economy lately.