Certain states have been successful in courting solar manufacturing companies. In a 2015 deal between SolarCity and New York, the state agreed to invest $750 million in tax breaks and the company agreed to create 3,000 jobs in the state of New York. Likewise, the city of Jackson, Mississippi brokered a deal with Seraphim, a Chinese solar module manufacturer, to invest $50 million and create 250 jobs.

States can attract similar manufacturing success by establishing or expanding a tax abatement program to apply to solar manufacturers. Passing a uniform tax abatement for all solar manufacturers, rather than negotiating project-by-project with manufacturers, would demonstrate to companies around the globe that a state is ready to compete for solar manufacturing jobs.

To attract large solar manufacturers, states could add tiered incentives to a solar manufacturing tax abatement program. As a company’s investment increases, the length and percentage of the tax abatement could ramp up. Passing a tiered incentive program would demonstrate to solar manufacturers that states are prepared to compete for solar energy manufacturing facilities of every size.