Is the U.S. solar manufacturing boom standing on a hollow foundation?

In this live episode from PV ModuleTech USA, Nico sits down with solar industry veteran Arndt E. Lutz, a global exec who’s seen it all—from Germany’s early solar rise to hydrogen innovation and now leading EliTe Solar’s manufacturing efforts.

“In Germany, they did something that I thought was very smart. The government basically said, every solar developer has the right to connect to the grid.” – Arndt E. Lutz

Despite America’s massive build-out of module assembly plants, there's a gaping hole in the supply chain: solar cell manufacturing. Arndt lays out the challenge with clarity—and urgency. It's not just about economics. It’s water, power, permitting, and a chemical process no one’s quite ready for.

If we’'re serious about reshoring manufacturing, this is critical path.

Expect to learn:

🔹 Why 50GW of module assembly in the U.S. means little without more cell fabs
🔹 How Germany’s “right to interconnect” flipped the solar game
🔹 Why permitting delays are crushing U.S. manufacturing timelines
🔹 The surprising reason Texas leads in solar deployment & manufacturing

This is your front-row seat to the real challenges (and solutions) shaping the future of solar in America.

RESOURCES:

Connect with Arndt E. Lutz:

• LinkedIn

Check out EliTe Solar:

• Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube

“Permitting in the US is a difficult subject, because you have state, local, federal permits that you have to work with. It's not really streamlined. It takes too long, it's too expensive.” – Arndt E. Lutz