[fh973]

Aren't panels commodotized? Many western countries could probably spin up production at scale if needed and economically viable. But why do so now?

Also why talk only about panels. Inverters are cost wise in the same order of magnitude, but much more complex artifacts.

[bruce511]

Inverters have more electronic parts, but the parts themselves are very off-the-shelf, and the electronic design is pretty straightforward.

Inverters are still fairly expensive for a couple reasons; Firstly economies of scale. A residential site buys 1 inverter, but 10 to 20 panels. A commercial site has an even bigger ratio.

Secondly Inverters are the bit that connects to the grid. So there are regulatory requirements which need to be tested for. And likely tested in multiple different jurisdictions.

Panels on the other hand are "difficult" to produce in volume. Largely because of the quality of raw silicon that is required. Its not that the panels themselves are complex, but the supplier chain to them is.

[XorNot]

Sure but with a 20 year life span it's not like you can easily cut people off from the them. An interruption in supply has an enormous lead time to build a solution.