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After a quarter century in the solar business, Belmont Solar founder Ben Zook argues that the industry’s next phase will be shaped less by hardware than by how companies operate and engage their communities, according to a Solar Power World column published October 21, 2026. Writing in Solar Power World, Zook reflected on the changes he has witnessed since starting out in residential solar in Pennsylvania, when his team was young and the local market was still in its early stages.
Zook recalled that money was tight in those early years and that he occasionally considered taking a job elsewhere, but he believed the work mattered and that someone needed to champion solar’s potential in his community. He noted that today’s technology differs considerably from what was available then, with faster installations, less clutter in mechanical rooms and power conversion areas, neater arrays and greater overall value for customers, and with solar reaching more people than just the earliest adopters.
Despite those technical gains, Zook said his most important lessons have had little to do with equipment. He stressed that people have always been the industry’s priority and must remain so, and that growth for a business or an industry depends on relationship-building grounded in trust. He warned that dishonest sales practices or leaving customers with unrealistic expectations about what a system can deliver harm everyone involved, and he said that providing genuine help and understanding each customer’s specific needs is what sustains sales through the industry’s recurring ups and downs.
Zook described solar as retaining substantial untapped potential and said that communicating long-term benefits to customers and communities is essential, pointing to advantages that extend years and even decades into the future. For newcomers to the field, he recommended taking the long view, staying dedicated to the technology, continuing to learn about advancements and pursuing solar’s full potential, while working to help those around them succeed so the whole community benefits.
He also urged installers to design and build systems that genuinely meet customer needs and to be candid when a system may fall short of expectations, framing the industry’s progress as a group effort. Continuous learning, he added, should not begin or end in a classroom; his team was in its twenties at the start of the 2010s, and he credited an always-learning mindset with making it easier to embrace and question areas where answers remain unsettled. He welcomed younger generations entering solar and said their questions and developing expertise make collaboration in the industry more effective, noting that training, knowledge-sharing and professional curiosity are part of the job.
Workmanship is a central focus of his business, Zook said. While standardized components and systems were unavailable when Belmont Solar started and improved equipment has made installations easier, he argued that better technology does not remove the need for thoughtful, skilled, design-oriented installers who solve problems, and that attention to detail, quality control and customer needs remain decisive.
Zook acknowledged that solar’s progress has not followed a straight line and said a long-term view of its benefits, paired with educating customers and communities, helps businesses weather market shifts. He cited persistent misconceptions dating back to 2001, including beliefs that solar does not work, that people are too old to benefit or that it would never be worth it, and said he wants to keep correcting them. He defined success as building a company that delivers long-term value to its community while maintaining meaningful relationships with it, and he pointed to Belmont Solar’s participation in the ASES National Solar Tour as an example of connecting with the local community.
Zook concluded that learning, a focus on good work and putting customers first will keep solar afloat through future changes, and he encouraged professionals to try or learn something new daily, suggesting that solar can grow substantially over the next 25 years if the industry works to improve alongside it. He is the founder, owner and a NABCEP Certified Master Electrician at Belmont Solar, a solar panel installation company based in Gordonville, Pennsylvania.
Interactive table based on the Store Companies dataset for this report.
This report provides an in-depth analysis of the Solar Panels market in the United States, covering market size, growth trajectory, demand structure, supply capability, trade flows, pricing, competitive landscape, and forecast to 2035.
The study is designed for manufacturers, distributors, importers, exporters, investors, procurement teams, advisors, and strategy teams that need a consistent, data-driven view of market dynamics and a transparent analytical definition of the product scope.
This report covers photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, which are devices that convert sunlight directly into electricity. It encompasses the global market for finished modules, including all major product technologies and form factors designed for a wide range of end-use applications.
The report combines the standard market-statistics backbone with strategic chapters that are useful for commercial planning, sourcing decisions, market entry, competitor monitoring, and portfolio prioritization.
The market is segmented into decision-relevant buckets so that demand drivers, pricing logic, supply constraints, and competitive positions can be compared across the same analytical frame.
The market data is classified and analyzed according to international trade codes, primarily under the Harmonized System (HS) headings for photovoltaic cells and electric generating sets. This ensures consistent tracking of trade flows for assembled solar modules and relevant apparatus across global markets.
Coverage focuses on United States and includes demand, supply capability where present, trade flows, pricing, competition, and outlook.
The report combines official statistics, trade records, company disclosures, product-level evidence, and analyst validation. Data are standardized, reconciled, and cross-checked to keep market sizing, trade flows, pricing, and forecasts comparable across countries and time periods.
All indicators are mapped to a consistent product definition and reviewed against the segmentation framework used in the Table of Contents.
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Concise View of Market Direction
Market Size, Growth and Scenario Framing
Commercial and Technical Scope
How the Market Splits Into Decision-Relevant Buckets
Where Demand Comes From and How It Behaves
Supply Footprint and Value Capture
Trade Flows and External Dependence
Price Formation and Revenue Logic
Who Wins and Why
How the Domestic Market Works
Commercial Entry and Scaling Priorities
Where the Best Expansion Logic Sits
Leading Players and Strategic Archetypes
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Specializes in cadmium telluride thin-film module technology
Operates a major U.S. solar module manufacturing facility in Georgia
Markets its back-contact panel technology under the SunPower brand
Operates the G1_Dallas solar module manufacturing facility
Manufactures its solar panels in San Antonio, Texas
Operates U.S. module manufacturing facilities in Washington and South Carolina
Produces modules at its U.S. facility in Minnesota
Offers bifacial and monofacial module product lines
Offers bifacial modules for utility-scale and commercial projects
U.S. solar module manufacturer with production in California
Provides solar modules under its proprietary Lumio brand
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