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This work discusses the life-cycle impact of manufacturing silicon monocrystalline (c-Si) (PV) panels in the United States compared to China. We compare the results using country average and regional data accounting for the location of each manufacturing stage. The carbon footprint based on the national average for the USA is 515 g CO 2 /kWp compared to 740 g CO 2 /kWp for China. Producing c-Si modules in China from US polysilicon reduces the carbon footprint by 9.5% compared to Chinese modules. Manufacturing modules entirely in the US modules could reduce the carbon footprint by 30%. PV modules supply chain is in regions with slower decarbonization than the rest of the country for both US and China, slowing down the reduction in carbon footprint for c-Si in the future. 

Material scarcity is a considerable threat to energy transition towards renewables. Photovoltaics (PV) installations are expected to increase rapidly in the next decade, which may increase the amount of material needed. This study created three scenarios (S 1 , S 2 , & S 3 ) to evaluate the impacts of potential technology improvements on the quantity of materials necessary for manufacturing silicon PV (Si PV) laminate in the next ten years. Our baseline was similar to previous studies, which applied theoretical models on PV historical data and ignored PV technology improvements that can influence future material projections. S 1 considered only market share and module efficiency, while S 2 covered wafer thickness improvements as well. S 3 was the scenario that more likely will occur in the next decade, which included module efficiency, market share, wafer thickness, glass thickness, and potential replacements such as using perovskite/silicon tandem. The material requirement for Si PV laminate manufacturing in S 3 was 22% to 78% lower than the baseline, S 1 , and S 2 . The highest material demand is expected to be for solar glass (74 million metric tons) and Metallurgical grade silicon (3 million metric tons) in the next decade. This study showed the importance of considering technology improvements to project the PV material requirement.