Market forces in countries like the U.S. have made it unprofitable for many companies to continue manufacturing the traditional silicon solar cells with companies like GE opting to shift its resources to manufacture thin film solar modules while it closes down its silicon crystalline solar cell plants [5].
This closure of firms has greatly been caused by the fact that manufacturing the traditional solar panels is a lot cheaper in other countries such as China, which is why some American companies are shifting production to the oriental super power [5].