Complicated things, made simple.

The sunlight on your roof is local. So why does so much of the solar industry lead back to China? On 16 October 2026, China proposed export controls on twelve technologies used in solar manufacturing. To understand what that means, we follow Robo, who wants to open his own solar factory – and discovers the difference between assembling a finished panel and mastering the whole production chain behind it. We look at what is actually inside a silicon solar panel, where the dependence really sits, how a manufacturing lead is built, why selling a product is not the same as selling the know-how to make it, whether existing panels could be "switched off", how to think about supply security – and what all this means for the bill on your roof.