Solar Cell Manufacturing Workforce Development for Domestic United States Production: Skills Frameworks and Training Pathways

Abstract

The post-Inflation-Reduction-Act build-out of domestic United States photovoltaic cell and module manufacturing capacity has created a workforce-development demand that exceeds the historical training pipeline. This study characterizes the technical-skills profile required across four production-line role families (process engineer, equipment maintenance technician, quality engineer, production operator) and benchmarks the current supply against announced 2024-2027 capacity expansion. We propose a structured skills framework anchored to specific cell architectures (PERC, TOPCon, HJT) and identify the community-college, vocational-training, and apprenticeship pathways most suitable for each role family. The framework supports workforce-system planning by state-level economic development agencies and by the operating manufacturers themselves.