Two years ago, the Biden Administration and Congress worked together to begin the process of reshoring solar manufacturing.

For the last 20 years, China has been working hard to secure a monopoly over this critical technology. While China has mostly succeeded, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) created a set of incentives to get us back in the game. But, one critical piece may undermine our progress – we are letting China-headquartered companies locate final manufacturing in the United States, taking advantage of those same incentives while preserving their supply chain monopoly over the fundamental components.

Fortunately, with the introduction of the American Tax Dollars for American Solar Manufacturing Act earlier this month, senators are trying to close this work-around and put American manufacturing back on a level playing field.

Solar energy was invented in the United States, but right now nearly all of it, and about 99% of the fundamental component (the wafer), is being manufactured elsewhere, specifically, by Chinese-controlled companies. As our government works to invest in clean energy, we’re incentivizing companies to build back their operations in the U.S. so Americans can benefit from good-paying jobs, foster innovation from our world-leading R&D abilities, and establish energy independence in the critical technologies for our future.

Congress created a remarkably far-sighted system to reshore solar, batteries and wind technology. Policymakers not only created supply-side incentives in the advanced manufacturing production incentive that encourage manufacturers to build big factories quickly, but they paired them with demand-side incentives to give developers who use the products a bonus if they buy the products of those factories as they build solar and wind farms.

Unfortunately, the guidance for that bonus issued by the Treasury Department so far has missed the mark and has now become one of the biggest obstacles to jumpstarting the onshoring of American solar manufacturing. As it stands, Chinese companies can continue to leverage their monopoly power over the fundamental components of solar, produced with weak environmental and labor protections as well as massive direct subsidies, and sell to projects claiming the “domestic content bonus.” The clock is ticking to get this right as billions of investment dollars and thousands of jobs in solar manufacturing hang in the balance. In a very real sense, the future of solar energy depends on it.

China has dominated the solar manufacturing sector for a decade, and they’ve done it using a familiar playbook to those of us who’ve watched what the OPEC cartel has done to oil markets. OPEC’s ability to control price was legendary and it wasn’t limited to keeping prices high. Much more importantly, they could crash prices when they wanted to in order to run out competition. From “heavy oil” in Venezuela, to oil sands in Canada, to fracking in the US, OPEC has demonstrated again and again that you can either join them like Venezuela or be run over, with the attendant economic crash that people in Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas have seen many times over.

Now, China is doing the same thing in solar – as we are currently seeing the lowest prices in history, far below production cost – to stifle our manufacturing renaissance before it gets a chance to take off. Stymying competition and, thus, innovation is chapter one of the cartel playbook and China has perfected their execution.

Look no further than our friends across the pond: nearly all of the European solar manufacturers have closed operations due to insufficient protections from below market Chinese products. Many are even looking to the United States, but that will quickly change if our policies don’t keep pace.

To build a robust solar supply chain in the United States, our government must prove that we have the backs of our manufacturers. Companies will not invest here if they do not think they will be protected. How are U.S. manufacturers supposed to compete when China is setting prices far below the cost of production?

The fact is, international competition is not for the faint of heart. Our companies can hold their own, but only if the government has their backs and helps build the foundation for successful competition. This means leveraging our strengths; our unmatched innovation apparatus, strong investor base, and our brutally efficient market that forces constant improvement. But this only works if we don’t ignore the fact that China simply doesn’t have a free market economy.

Unlike the U.S., where most of our economy is us selling products and services to each other, their entire economic system requires exports, because their consumer class doesn’t have the ability to support their economy. This means, the U.S. government must work to produce a level playing field for U.S. manufacturers through the three legged stool of production support, demand incentives, and tariffs and other trade remedies. For the first time in several generations, we’re on the path to building the supports our economy needs to thrive in these all-important industries – as long as we don’t lose our will to succeed,

No one action can unwind the years of investment that Chinese-headquartered solar firms have made to control the solar industry, but we must act now with every tool at our disposal. By updating the domestic content bonus, enforcing smart trade policy, and standing up to the Chinese-controlled monopoly trying to protect their dominance by doing the minimum possible in the U.S. we can reshore the domestic solar supply chain, ensure the United States is clean energy independent, and secure a future for solar manufacturing in America that will benefit workers, businesses and the environment.

 Mike Carr is the executive director of the SEMA Coalition. Prior to joining SEMA, Carr served as the principal deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and the senior advisor to the director of energy policy and systems analysis at the U.S. Department of Energy from 2012 to 2015.  Prior to serving the President at DOE, Mike served as Senior Counsel to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources from 2004 to June 2012. He holds a law degree, with a Certificate of Specialization in Environmental and Natural Resources Law, from Lewis and Clark College and a Bachelor’s from the University of Colorado – Boulder.

A look at IRA successes and failures David Burton, attorney with Norton Rose Fulbright and specialist in energy tax law, looks at tax credit transfer, domestic content, energy communities, prevailing wage and more.

Jimmy Carter, champion of solar energy At the age of 92, President Carter’s dedication to solar energy came full circle when his family decided to convert 10 acres of their peanut farm into a 1.3 MW solar farm.

Making perovskite solar PV circular from the start Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory researchers used a circular economy framework to determine how to scale, deploy, and design metal halide perovskite solar panels to be easily recyclable in the future.

Heliene to procure U.S.-made solar wafers from NorSun The NorSun wafers will be supplied from the company’s planned 5 GW wafer factory in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

NorSun, a solar wafer manufacturer signed a multi-year contract with Heliene, a solar module maker. The exact amount of wafers was not specified, but Heliene reported that the supply will meet its annual requirement of silicon wafers starting in 2026.

Heliene has been manufacturing solar modules in Ontario, Canada since 2010 and in Mountain Iron, Minnesota since 2018. Last year the company announced an investment of an additional $10 million to expand its manufacturing and assembly line at its Minnesota facility.

Minnesota Line One was first installed in 2018 at 150 MW and has now doubled in capacity to 300 MW with the recent investment. Line One is situated contiguously to a second 500MW line installed in 2022. The company reports that the upgrades will improve the efficiency of the line.

The NorSun wafers will be supplied from the company’s planned 5 GW wafer factory in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In June NorSun announced plans to invest $620 million the new silicon ingot and solar wafer manufacturing facility on a 60-acre greenfield site in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Production at the new NorSun plant is expected to begin in 2026, bringing much-needed U.S.-made silicon ingots and wafers to the supply chain, as well as 320 jobs to the Tulsa area. NorSun reports that production can be expanded up to 10 GW.

Heliene, will take delivery of the wafer at its cell factory to be built in the Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota metro area.

“NorSun and Heliene are both dedicated to developing low carbon, domestically produced solutions based on sustainable value chains free of forced labor,” said Erik Løkke-Øwre, CEO of NorSun. “In the months leading up to final decisions at the end of 2024 it is now important that further policy measures are taken to regulate the US market to make sure the IRA program can take full effect”

Norsun, founded in Norway in 2007, specializes in the production of monocrystalline ingots and wafers for ultra-high efficiency solar cells. Its U.S. expansion was facilitated by the Oklahoma Department of Commerce and Tulsa Airports Improvement Trust.

MIT scientists optimize perovskite solar cell components Researchers at MIT have enhanced the stability of Spiro-MeOTAD in perovskite solar cells, achieving over 1,400 hours of high-temperature testing with minimal degradation in a lower efficiency cell.

WoodMac says global solar tracker shipments grew by 28% in 2023 Global tracker shipments reached 92 GWdc last year, according to WoodMackenzies’ latest report. The US accounted for the majority of the global market, with three US-based manufacturers, Nextracker, Array Technologies and GameChange Solar, ranking as the three largest shippers in the world.

Interview: My experience as a battery energy storage homeowner What is it like being a residential solar and energy storage prosumer living in California? Ahmad Faruqui, economist-at-large, shares his perspective with pv magazine USA .

Wafer prices near bottom, size evolution and capacity globalization continue In a new weekly update for pv magazine, OPIS, a Dow Jones company, provides a quick look at the main price trends in the global PV industry.

Tesla continues scaling up energy storage business in China The announcement of Tesla’s battery factory in Shanghai marked the company’s entry into the Chinese market. Amy Zhang, analyst at InfoLink Consulting, looks at what this move could bring for the US battery storage maker and the broader Chinese market.

How long do residential solar batteries last? Multiple factors affect lifespan of a residential battery energy storage system. We examine the life of batteries in Part 3 of our series.

Energy storage opportunities in Mid-Atlantic region await clear state policies Panelists at RE+ in Philadelphia said storage deployment in the PJM region lags others, but doesn’t have to.

U.S. engineers develop ChatGPT algorithm to design solar cells OptoGPT is a new algorithm that harnesses the computer architecture underpinning ChatGPT. Its creators say that it will enable researchers and engineers to design optical multilayer film structures for a wide range of applications, including solar cells.

People on the move: Origis Energy, EVPassport, and more Job moves in solar, storage, cleantech, utilities and energy transition finance.

California replacing nuclear with solar plus storage Clearway Energy has secured financing for the 200 MW Luna Valley Solar & Storage facility and the 113.5 MW Dagget energy storage project in California. These projects have signed PPAs that are part of a collection of projects being developed across the state intended to replace the potentially retiring Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant.

Heliene and Premier Energies announce U.S. solar cell factory Heliene is a solar module provider operating in North America, while Premier Energies is the second largest solar cell manufacturer in India.

How long do residential solar inverters last? Multiple factors affect the productive lifespan of a residential solar inverter. In Part 2 of our series, we look at solar inverters.

GADS reporting required for far more solar facilities in 2025 With the North American Reliability Corporation’s Generating Availability Data System’s requirement dropping for 100 MW to 20 MW solar installations, many more solar installers will need to comply.

California community action agency breaks ground on vehicle-to-grid solar project The 1.5 MW ground-mount solar farm will be installed on a fixed-tilt racking system. Excess energy will be stored in a Nuvve-branded pre-validated battery energy storage system (BESS) integrated with Nuvve’s vehicle-to-grid platform.

ReCreate unveils details of U.S. solar cell, module factory The new venture is expected to bring 2 GW of solar module manufacturing capacity to the US market within 18 to 24 months.

How long do residential solar panels last? Multiple factors affect the productive lifespan of a residential solar panel. In the first part of this series, we look at the solar panels themselves.

New design for antimony trisulfide solar cells promises 30% higher efficiency An international research team has proposed a series of optimization techniques for antimony trisulfide (Sb2S3) solar cells that may reportedly increase the efficiency of these PV devices to over 11%. The resulting new cell design is said to significantly improve band alignment control and parameter optimization.

Trina Solar probing potential breaches of TOPCon patents Trina Solar says it has started evaluating potential violations of some of its patents for tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) tech. One of the patents focuses on the number of busbars and their width in TOPCon solar panels.

Reducing solar project timelines and costs with integrated switchboards Utility-scale solar projects can be developed more rapidly and cost effectively through the use of integrated switchboards, said a report from Castillo Engineering, Recon Corporation, EPEC and ReBoSS.

U.S. Senators introduce comprehensive energy permitting reform act Joe Manchin (I-WV) and John Barrasso (R-WY) released the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024, promising to accelerate the permitting processes for energy and mineral projects of all types in the U.S.

DOE’s Liftoff Plan: Three actions utilities can implement While it may take more time for solar energy to become an integral part of power generation across the U.S., utility companies can prepare now to capitalize on the opportunities ahead as the DOE initiative moves to transform the grid for generations to come.

The Hydrogen Stream: Europe could miss 2030 hydrogen targets The European Court of Auditors says the European Union will likely fail to achieve its 2030 renewable hydrogen goals, while the US Department of Energy and Arches have agreed to build a $12.6 billion hydrogen hub in California.

DOE offers conditional loan guarantee for 200 MW solar, 285 MW storage in Puerto Rico Two solar-plus-storage projects in Puerto Rico eligible for a loan guarantee would double the territory’s utility-scale solar capacity.

Canadian government extends heat pump grant scheme The provincial government of Prince Edward Island, Canada, has signed an agreement with the Canadian federal government to implement the Oil to Heat Pump Affordability (OHPA) program. The scheme offers grants to low- and medium-income households to install heat pumps and has nationally delivered more than 7,000 units to date.

$7 billion federal ‘Solar for All’ program faces vendor and compliance challenges A group of panelists at the RE+ conference in Philadelphia, panelists provided updates on the EPA-administered Solar for All Program, which extends solar access to low income households.

Massachusetts passes pro-solar and energy storage reforms The Massachusetts House of Representatives passed a bill to put time limits on solar permit processing, streamlined appeals processes, energy storage procurement goals, and more.

Tesla lands 15.3 GWh Megapack supply contract Tesla has received a giant order from U.S. developer Intersect Power, equating to around 165% of the total battery energy storage systems it deployed in Q2 2024, which saw the highest quarterly deployment in the company’s history to date.

690 MW solar-plus-storage project in U.S. now operational in Nevada Gemini is located thirty minutes outside of Las Vegas and with its 1.8 million solar panels, will power about 10% of Nevada’s peak power demand.

Weak demand continues to exert downward pressure on solar module prices In a new weekly update for pv magazine, OPIS, a Dow Jones company, provides a quick look at the main price trends in the global PV industry.

First Solar probes potential infringement of TOPCon patents First Solar says it is evaluating potential infringement of its patents for its tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) tech, secured through the acquisition of TetraSun in 2013. The US thin-film solar module manufacturer has not named the companies involved or given a timeline for the investigation.

More than half of California solar customers to include battery storage Falling battery costs, shifting regulations and interest in energy independence are driving increased battery attachment rates on residential solar projects in California.

In case you missed it: Five big solar stories in the news this week  Agrivoltaics in Ohio. Elastocalorics may replace heat pumps. U.S. residential solar is down. And more.

From ESS-news

Intersect Power is looking to deploy 15.3 GWh of Tesla’s Megapacks across its  solar-plus-storage project portfolio through 2030.

This agreement, when combined with previous commitments, will see Intersect Power roll out nearly 10 GWh of Megapacks by the end of 2027.

Tesla has previously supplied Megapacks for Intersect Power’s Base Portfolio of solar-plus-storage facilities totaling 2.4 GWh in operation or under construction. This includes 1 GWh in operation at the Oberon solar-plus-storage facility (pictured above) and 448 MWh in operation at the Athos III solar-plus-storage facility in California.

The developer is currently installing an additional 1 GWh of Tesla Megapacks at its Radian and Lumina solar-plus-storage facilities in Texas, which will be fully operational later this year.

Intersect Power plans to utilize over half of this new order of Megapacks for four projects in California and Texas expected to achieve operations by the end of 2027, “including what will be some of the largest battery installations in the country,” the developer said.

The balance will be utilized in Intersect Power’s subsequent portfolio of solar-plus-storage facilities, which are slated to come online in 2028-30.

“This storage franchise is the perfect complement to our multi-billion dollar expansion of renewable generation that is expected to more than triple the size of our company over the next three years,” said Sheldon Kimber, CEO of Intersect Power.

Intersect Power develops, owns, and operates some of the country’s largest battery storage projects as part of its solar-plus-storage facilities in Texas and California, which comprises 2.2 GW of operating solar PV and 2.4 GWh of storage in operation or construction.

Only a day before disclosing the supply deal with Tesla, the developer announced the closing of two separate transactions representing an aggregate of $837 million of financing commitments for the construction and operation of three standalone battery energy storage systems in Texas – Lumina I, Lumina II, and Radian.

Each project comprises 86 Tesla Megapacks and will provide a capacity of 320 MWh of battery storage with a two-hour duration.

Continue reading at ESS-news.

Clean Energy Associates (CEA) issued its quarterly report on solar supply chain analysis, technological trends, and regional policy analysis. 

The firm projects that after a more than 60% increase in global solar installations in 2023, growth is expected to sharply decline in 2024. Global demand is expected to be between 401 GW and 511 GW. 

Despite the expected slowdown in installations, supply is expected to continue to grow. CEA sees significant new capacity across polysilicon, cell, and module coming online in 2024. Polysilicon manufacturing is expected to add over 600 GW worldwide, while cell and module sectors will bring more than 300 GW each, said CEA. 

Multiple trade policies are expected to keep prices high in the U.S. The removal of the bifacial exemption to section 201 tariffs, uncertainty created by the launch of a new AD/CVD investigation, and ongoing enforcement of the UFLPA are keeping prices high. CEA said these forces continue to bolster the economic case for investing in U.S. solar manufacturing. 

The risk of AD/CVD is significant. CEA said through the first five months of 2024, about 75% of modules and 50% of cells were imported from the four AD/CVD affected countries of Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. 

“The risk-free supply is limited and fragmented and not enough to meet U.S. cell demand,” said CEA. 

As for technological trends, CEA expects that TOPCon solar modules will now account for around 75% of global distribution in 2024. The firm expects over 400 GW of TOPCon module shipments this year. 

While TOPCon offers efficiency upgrades over silicon without requiring a complete overhaul to manufacturing facilities, it is not without potential risks, warns CEA. Performance degradation risks are “too early to conclude,” it said.  

CEA suggests that proper manufacturing processes and encapsulation could improve reliability. It recommends that buyers avoid products without quality assurance. 

The report also warned of a rising trend of hail damage risk in solar modules. As the industry has shifted to larger, heavier modules, suppliers have been installing thinner and thinner glass. A typical module in 2015 had 3.2 mm glass on its frame and a backsheet and weighed about 26 kg. In 2023, conventional modules are protected by 2.0 mm of glass and have a glass backsheet, while weighing about 38 kg. This shift to thinner glass on larger modules has made them more exposted to the risk of damage from hail impact. 

Based on data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, hail is the cause of 53% of insurance claims for U.S. solar assets. This is followed by wind (32%), and fire (8%). 

Hail insurance now exists in the same category as severe storms, and insurers have increased their concerns about hail risks. Insurance is used to cover the module replacement cost in a hail event. CEA said new policies have set high deductibles and coverage limits in hail-prone regions, and rates may continue to change as risk is re-assessed. 

“Some suppliers have upgraded hail resistance and tested it to a more severe level; however, such modules are usually based on special designs and/or materials that are not mainstream due to cost or limited demand,” said CEA. 

Global energy storage fleet to surpass 1 TW/3 TWh by 2033 According to the latest forecast from Wood Mackenzie, the global energy storage market (excluding pumped hydro) is on track to reach 159 GW/358 GWh by the of 2024 and grow by more than 600% by 2033, with nearly 1 TW of new capacity expected to come online.

Solar for small-scale brewing  Researchers in Spain have investigated the potential of using photovoltaic (PV) or photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) systems in microbreweries and have found that PVT systems can cover more energy demand but have a longer payback time.

U.S. manufacturer Toledo Solar closes business The Ohio based thin-film solar module producer was sued last year by First Solar, alleged that Toledo Solar sold Malaysian-made First Solar modules under the Toledo name.

Transfer switch for home solar power integration Nature’s Generator now offers a 50-amp, 12-circuit switch to manually power up selected circuits from backup system.

Solar tariffs could “unintentionally cede U.S. leadership in the solar industry” A report from Clean Energy Associates (CEA) and the American Council on Renewable Energy shows how antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) tariffs create cost issues not just for imported solar panels, but for U.S.-made solar panels as well.

The Hydrogen Stream: Hydrogen power plants feasible but inefficient, says CATF The Clean Air Task Force (CATF) says in a new report that dedicated clean hydrogen production and use is often a costly, inefficient decarbonization strategy for the power sector, while American Airlines says it has signed a deal with ZeroAvia for 100 hydrogen-electric engines.

The U.S. has ended its two-year pause of solar antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) tariffs. The tariffs apply to solar components shipped from Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, and Cambodia that are found to be harboring tariff-dodging goods originating from China.

The four Southeast Asian nations are responsible for almost 80% of the U.S. supply of solar components. AD/CVD tariffs historically have ranged from 50% to 250% of the cost of shipped goods. This tariff risk creates a great deal of uncertainty for buyers and suppliers. Clean Energy Associates (CEA) and the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) released a report assessing these risks.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said the threat of AD/CVD tariffs in 2022 had prompted delays or the cancellation of around 20% of utility-scale solar generation capacity.

Now, following petition from U.S. manufacturers claiming dumped products are harming their business, the U.S. International Trade Commission has decided to take up a new round of AD/CVD investigations on component suppliers from the four Southeast Asian nations.

The Department of Commerce of is expected to issue its CVD preliminary determination on September 23 and its AD preliminary determination on November 20, said law firm Foley and Lardner. For either determination, Commerce will establish the tariff rate based upon the records of subsidization and dumping before it. A final determination is expected to be made on April 4, 2025 for the Department of Commerce and May 19, 2025 for the International Trade Commission.

ACORE president and chief executive officer Ray Long said a finding of AD/CVD violation “could unintentionally cede U.S. leadership in the solar industry to other countries.”

Domestic manufacturers of solar components have petitioned in support of the tariffs, but CEA warns that enforcement could negatively impact their businesses, too. This is because there is a significant gap in the U.S. solar supply chain. While huge amounts of module assembly facilities have come online, the cells that are manufactured and integrated into a solar module are still heavily reliant on imports, with very little production capacity domestically.

CEA said module manufacturing capacity in the U.S. may grow from 31 GW in 2024 to about 60 GW by 2026. Cell capacity may take more time, it said, growing from about 1 GW in 2024 to 11 GW in 2027. The firm expects most cell factories to finish expansion by 2027 as the Inflation Reduction Act 45X manufacturing incentives run out shortly thereafter in 2030.

CEA modeled that solar AD/CVD tariffs would raise domestic module costs by 10 cents per watt and imported module costs by 15 cents per watt, significantly affecting project economics. For reference, a buyer told OPIS that current U.S. Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) TOPCon solar module prices have risen to the low-to-mid $0.30/W range. This pricing includes the 201 bifacial tariffs but excludes the new antidumping/countervailing duties.

“These higher prices implemented on top of other headwinds, including domestic factors and trade restrictions already in place and impacting the industry’s trajectory, could seriously hinder America’s progress on solar deployment,” said ACORE.

ACORE noted that the U.S. solar industry is in good health. Private businesses have announced at least 105,454 new jobs and over $123 billion in capital investment in clean energy broadly since the passage of the IRA, and solar is expected to represent about 59% of all grid capacity additions through 2028. but to meet goals of a 50-52% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, the U.S. solar industry must increase from 177 GW of installed capacity to over 500 GW. Worsened project economics could threaten hitting this fast-approaching target.

The report argues that the U.S. needs more time to build solar cell capacity to meet demand. It also recognizes that the U.S. may be reliant on cell imports for some time.

It is more difficult to establish a solar cell factory for numerous reasons, said CEA. Cell capacity can take twice the construction, training, and ramp time of module capacity. Uncertain domestic content rules make the value of U.S. cells highly variable until the final statutes are published. And cell capital expenditure costs can be two to three times the cost of a module factory, making it difficult for new suppliers to raise funding.

CEA forecast that the U.S. will need to import up to 41 GW worth of cells and/or modules to meet projected U.S. installations until Section 201 tariffs are phased-out in February 2026.

Enforcement of AD/CVD may threaten the supply of cells in the meantime. The report said duties could create a situation where cell buyers and suppliers are unwilling to risk duty, and cell transactions stop.

The report warns that an AD/CVD finding may in turn put U.S. manufacturing jobs at risk. Duties could leave nearly 34 GW of U.S. solar module capacity without competitively priced cell inputs, jeopardizing almost 9,000 U.S. factory jobs.

The State of California’s Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has approved five clean energy project power purchase agreements submitted by Southern California Edison. Three of the projects are solar power plants with a total generating capacity of 525 MWac, while the other two are geothermal projects. According to Fervo Energy, these geothermal projects represent the largest geothermal power purchase agreements in the world.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Form EIA-860M, at least one of the Atlas facilities will be coupled with energy storage.

According to the filing with the CPUC, each of the three solar power projects is expected to have an AC capacity factor of just over 36%. In comparison, the Fervo Energy geothermal facilities offer a capacity factor of just over 82%.

In their filing, the CPUC cites the state’s “mid-term reliability” capacity requirements of 3.8 GW by 2036, noting that both the geothermal and the solar-plus-storage projects meet those needs.

California aims to reduce emissions to 25 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMT CO2e) by 2035. The state projects 800 MW of geothermal capacity by 2026, 1.1 GW in 2027, and 2 GW by 2033.

The Atlas Solar V, VI, and X power plants are owned by solar developer 174 Power Global LLC, a subsidiary of the South Korean company Hanwha. Hanwha also owns Qcells, the largest silicon solar module manufacturer in the United States.

Located in Salome, Arizona, the solar facilities will transmit their electricity via the Atlas Solar Tie Line Project, a 500kV transmission line. This line will interconnect the proposed Atlas facilities with the Ten West Link 500 kV transmission line, eventually facilitating the use of the electricity in Blythe, California.

The facilities are situated in an active solar development region managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the Arizona State Land Department.

The two geothermal facilities are located at the same site in southwest Utah. The first phase, 70 MW, is expected to come online in 2026, with the second phase scheduled for 2028.

Publicly available documents from western electric utilities hint that Fervo’s power purchase agreements may range between $0.08 and $0.10 per kWh. The company recently announced that drilling times in February were 70% faster and 50% cheaper than in 2022.

From pv magazine Germany

Meyer Burger’s new plant in Goodyear in Arizona passed the factory audit according to UL test standards without any deviations, and production can begin.

The solar cells required for module production have been delivered from the German site in Thalheim to the U.S. plant for some time now. This will continue to be the case in the future to ensure the ramp-up in the USA, Meyer Burger added.

In addition to the module factory, Meyer Burger also plans to build a cell factory in Colorado. It is not yet entirely clear when this will be able to start production. This depends on the conclusion of the 45X financing. The due diligence of a major U.S. bank on monetization in accordance with Article 45X of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has been completed and negotiations on the loan agreements are currently underway.

Meyer Burger says it is aiming to complete the deal and make the payment by the middle of the third quarter. At this time, the payment of export financing by a German bank for the construction of photovoltaic production in the U.S. is also expected. The photovoltaic company has also submitted the final application for the loan from the U.S. Department of Energy to finance the cell factory. This is currently still being reviewed, says Meyer Burger.

In addition, a commercial agreement has already been negotiated with a U.S. industrial and technology group and a term sheet for a possible investment in Meyer Burger has been exchanged. This strategic cooperation would enable Meyer Burger to manufacture solar modules in the U.S. with an ever-increasing proportion of domestic components.

Meyer Burger has already signed several contracts with EPC companies and energy suppliers for the purchase of its solar modules manufactured in the U.S.. Now another purchase contract for up to 600 megawatts per year has been added with a large energy company from the U.S.. Delivery has been agreed for three years from 2026 with an extension option for two years. The agreement is to take effect when the financing of the solar cell plant in Colorado Springs is completed, Meyer Burger said.

Meyer Burger shut down its module plant in Freiberg, Saxony , in April after there was no agreement within the federal government on resilience measures for German and European photovoltaic manufacturers .

Maine may design a distribution system operator to advance distributed energy resources Maine has hired a consulting firm to evaluate whether forming a distribution system operator could speed deployment of distributed energy resources and support other state goals. Consultants are reviewing how the approach is used in five other countries.

New platform vets residential solar salespeople An industry plagued by deceptive practices is now verifying salespeople via a platform called Recheck.

Summit Ridge to procure 800 MW of Qcells solar panels The recent agreement brings the total to 2 GW of solar modules that the community solar specialist will purchase from Qcells, mostly manufactured in its facility in Georgia.

More solar installations coming to U.S. military bases In a partnership with Duke Energy valued at an estimated $248 million, the U.S. Department of Defense will be the exclusive purchaser of all output generated by two new solar facilities, which will serve five military bases.

Siting solar projects for best environmental results A new white paper from Clearloop identifies key U.S. regions for best carbon displacement impact of new clean energy projects.

Top solar panel brands in reliability, quality, and performance Solar modules are evaluated in the Renewable Energy Test Center annual PV Module Index.

pv magazine interview: ‘In the next year, some of these guys are going to be bankrupt’ At Intersolar in Munich, pv magazine spoke with Jenny Chase, solar analyst at BloombergNEF, about the incredibly low polysilicon prices, massive overcapacity, and increasing consolidation. According to Chase, this year there will be enough polysilicon capacity to produce 1.1 TW of solar modules, but global module demand is expected to reach around 585 GW. 

Summit Ridge Energy expanded its partnership with Qcells with an agreement to purchase 800 MW of solar panels.

The agreement builds on an existing 1.2 GW relationship between Qcells and Summit Ridge, announced in April of 2023 by Vice President Kamala Harris. At the time the 1.2 GW order was the largest equipment purchase in history for the community solar market.

By increasing the total commitment to 2 GW, Summit Ridge reports it will develop more than 100 additional community solar projects across the country using U.S.-made solar.

Last year Qcells announced what was then the largest investment in U.S. solar manufacturing history, investing more than $2.5  billion to build a complete solar supply chain in the United States. This made the Korean company, a subsidiary of Hanwha Solutions, the first company to establish a fully-integrated silicon-based solar supply chain in the U.S. When complete, Qcells solar panels — from polysilicon to the finished panel — will be entirely made in the U.S.

Both the build-out of Qcells U.S. manufacturing footprint and the growth of Summit Ridge Energy are incentivized by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The includes tax incentives for domestic energy production as well as manufacturing. Many of Summit Ridge’s solar projects also qualify for IRA tax credits that will provide thousands of low-income households with greater access to clean energy savings.

“We are excited to expand our partnership with Qcells, which enables Summit Ridge to deliver on our promise of giving more Americans the opportunity to power their homes and businesses with locally generated clean energy,” said Brian Dunn, chief operating officer of Summit Ridge Energy. “Through our Qcells partnership, we are able to support domestic manufacturing and job creation, while simultaneously bringing low-cost clean energy to communities that have historically been left out of the clean energy transition.”

Summit Ridge’s planned fleet of community solar farms are expected to generate enough clean energy to power an estimated 200,000 homes and businesses. Since launching in 2017, the company reports that it has deployed over $2.6 billion into clean energy assets and controls a development pipeline of more than 3 GW that will provide solar power to homes and businesses nationwide.

“Expanding this relationship with Summit Ridge Energy means more communities will have access to the most affordable energy resource in the world,” said Justin Lee, CEO of Qcells. “This partnership not only supports the domestic manufacturing industry and thousands of jobs in solar, but it also ensures more people – especially those who have historically been left out – benefit from everything the clean energy economy has to offer.”

The majority of the solar panels purchased by Summit Ridge will be produced in Qcells’ new U.S. manufacturing facility located in Georgia. Additionally, Qcells will continue to provide Summit Ridge with battery storage and software solutions under separate procurement agreements.

Anza, a solar and energy storage supply chain platform, Q2 Pricing Insights Report aggregates data from 95% of the U.S. solar module supply year to date to provide pricing changes that result from market forces and regulatory changes. With the Q2 report on the U.S. solar module market shows the first price increase in years. Anza attributes this to the latest AD/CVD petition and reinstatement of bifacial import duties.

“After years of record low pricing, we’re seeing the market start to rebound as domestic manufacturers have less pricing pressure from foreign producers that are subject to tariffs,” said Mike Hall, CEO of Anza. “We’re expecting to see this upward price trend continue from here, making it critical for new projects to consider current pricing and potential tariff impacts when sourcing materials.”

Anza’s Q2 report looks at module pricing trends from March to May 2024 and finds that while there was a downward pricing trend in March and April, prices bounced up in May.

Looking at the period from February to May 2024, the median module price dropped from 27.9 cents per watt to 25 cents per watt, marking an 11% decrease. The most substantial change occurred between February and March 2024, when prices fell by 2.5 cents or 8.6%.

The report noted that while TOPCon prices remained steady from January to February, they dropped right alongside PERC through April. Anza attributes advancements in TOPCon manufacturing and increased competition from foreign suppliers as driving these price declines.

Then in May, following the AD/CVD petition, prices began to rise again at about 2%. Anza report authors acknowledge that while this is only a small increase, it is significant because it is the first time since late 2022 that prices have increased.

The report drills trend data down to a weekly basis, which that the median price dropped to 24 cents per watt the week of April 22, hitting what Anza suggests is the pricing floor. Since that time prices have climbed back and held at 25 cents per watt through the end of May; an increase of 4%. Anza anticipates that this upward trend due to the looming AD/CVD petition.

The report contends that “new solar module tariffs and regulatory changes have materially affected pricing, though we are only starting to see early signs of those impacts”.

The tariffs referred to include the new bifacial tariff as well as the looming fallout from an AD/CVD petition officially filed on April 24, 2024, against Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The report notes that while preliminary antidumping determinations for this case are not expected until Q4 of this year, additional duties could be applied retroactively as early as May or June 2024.

AD/CVD laws assess tariffs on goods that are found to be dodging import duties by dumping products in other countries before shipping them to the U.S. In the previous AD/CVD proceeding, four Southeastern Asian countries, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia, which were responsible for roughly 80% of the U.S. supply of solar components, were alleged as potentially harboring dumped products from China.

The recent AD/CVD petition filed by the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee, which includes First Solar, Qcells, Meyer Burger, REC Silicon, and others, claims that the U.S. “manufacturing renaissance” is threatened by heavily subsidized Chinese cells and modules.

Anza’s quarterly Pricing Insights Report looks at the impact of both government incentive programs, such as the IRA, and AD/CVD tariffs—in addition to the recently reinstated tariffs on bifacial solar modules, which generate electricity on both sides of the panel. Bifacial solar modules were previously exempt from tariffs, and the removal of the exemption reinstates a 15% tariff.

The report also compares Tier 1 module pricing to that of Non-Tier 1, and finds that the gap between the two has closed in the near term. The report finds that Tier 1 module prices dropped from 29 cents per watt to 25 cents per watt, marking a 14.8% decrease. Meanwhile, Non-Tier 1 module prices fell from 25 cents to 24 cents per watt, a 4.1% reduction.

In 2023 Anza was spun out of Borrego Solar after Borrego developed the solar and battery storage online marketplace and optimization solution. The proprietary software that drives the digital marketplace identifies the most optimized solar module and storage components based on customer-provided project details.

From pv magazine Global

Monalee, a U.S.-based software company has developed a web-based platform to enable investing in residential rooftop PV and related home energy systems. The company serves consumer solar PV markets in the states shown on the map.

The software provides estimates, quotes, financing, permitting, installation, and interconnection services after the homeowner enters their address, current bill, and choice of PV or battery, or both. It also calculates savings, a subsidy or credit calculator, and after-sales support via an app.

“Ordering and completing solar purchases must move online because that is what consumers want. They are used to it, even for major purchases such as buying a car,” Monalee CEO and co-founder Walid Halty, told pv magazine, adding that the challenge with solar is the need for site visits to be able to develop the project.

Monalee solved the site visit challenge by tapping into geographical information system (GIS) data and imagery from Google Maps via an application programming interface (API), known as Solar API.

“But the Solar API covered only half of the U.S.,” said Halty, describing how the company partnered with earth imaging specialists that provided photogrammetry LIDAR and drone imagery data for wider coverage.

Deep learning techniques were applied to enable the software to detect roof edges, for example, or to identify building features, such as a chimney or air conditioning units.

Monalee is a licensed general contractor and master electrician in 24 U.S. states. It works with small to midsize installers as sub-contractors, as well as other partners, such as equipment suppliers and finance providers to supply the services sold via its platform, according to Halty, who said that the company has served 1,900 homeowners since its founding in 2022. He attributes it to the service being “less time-consuming” and “more economical” compared to conventional methods.

Monalee reports that it uses Mitrex 405 solar panels and Tesla inverters. It is also a Certified Tesla dealer and uses the Tesla Powerwall for residents who opt for energy storage.

Offering lower prices has led to some unexpected results. “We were surprised to see demand in parts of the country, like Georgia, Alabama, and Kentucky, that are not typically big solar markets due to lower electricity prices. The largest market by volume are Florida and California, as expected,” said Halty.

Monalee has raised a total of $10 million in venture capital, with the most recent round closing in March 2024. The company has plans to expand to 35 states this year.

Bosch unveils water source heat pumps for residential, commercial applications  Bosch Home Comfort has presented two new heat pumps series that can be used for both retrofits and new buildings. Both products have a size of a size of ½ to 6 tons and a coefficient of performance of up to 4.9.

Community solar increases energy equity, report finds For the first time research looks at data about households adopting community solar along with policy that promotes outreach, and the results confirm that coalition efforts are beneficial.

U.S. solar trade case moves forward The U.S. International Trade Commission unanimously voted that solar cell manufacturing in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, supported by local incentives, is harming U.S. industry. This decision paves the way for the Commerce Department to finalize its determinations on Countervailing Duties by July 18 and Anti-Dumping duties by October 1.

Empowering multifamily housing with Solar for All grants As multifamily housing emerges as a key player in the solar revolution, it is poised to not only benefit from but also drive positive change in the clean energy landscape.

Longi presents 24.4%-efficient 660 W HPBC solar panel Intended for applications in utility-scale PV projects, the new Hi-MO 9 module is available in eight versions with power output ranging from 625 W to 660 W and power conversion efficiency spanning from 23.1% to 24.4%.

More states now require smart inverters, enabling more distributed solar Pennsylvania and Minnesota have joined six other states in requiring smart inverters for distributed solar and storage. Certain utilities in 13 states and Puerto Rico also require smart inverters, while six states are considering the requirement. Smart inverters enable more solar on distribution circuits.

In its preliminary findings, the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) found reasonable indications that the domestic solar module manufacturing industry is being materially harmed by imported solar cells from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. These countries have been identified as providing governmental incentives for setting up manufacturing facilities, sparking this investigation.

The complaint was initially brought forward by the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee, which includes prominent members such as First Solar, Hanwha Qcells USA, and Mission Solar Energy, according to the USITC. The group’s press release also named Convalt Energy, REC Silicon and Swift Solar.

Industry insiders told pv magazine USA that this outcome was expected from this group. 

A detailed report titled “Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled Into Modules from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam; Inv. Nos. 701-TA-722-725 and 731-TA-1690-1693” is scheduled for release on July 5, 2024, on the USITC website.

The specific outcome from this meeting is that the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) will continue its most recent ongoing investigation on the topic. Commerce will release its preliminary determination results on Countervailing Duties on July 18, with Anti-Dumping results due on October 1. These will be followed by final rulings from Commerce and the USITC’s final rulings on the subject.

In its initial filing, the USITC reported that over the past three years, the four countries have exported 71 GW of solar modules to the U.S., valued at $21 billion. During the same period, the U.S. installed a total of 83.8 GW of solar capacity. Suggested by USITC data, there’s an estimated 50 GW of solar modules currently stored in warehouses across the country. The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects that more than 50 GW of new solar capacity will be installed in the U.S. in 2024.

A significant portion of these imported solar modules is used in utility-scale solar projects.

The merchandise under investigation includes crystalline silicon photovoltaic (CSPV) cells and modules, as well as laminates and panels containing these cells. Excluded from this investigation are thin-film photovoltaic products made from materials such as amorphous silicon, cadmium telluride, or copper indium gallium selenide, typical of products manufactured by First Solar. Off-grid CSPV panels are also excluded from this investigation.

Currently, the cost of importing solar panels into the U.S. could increase dramatically, according to Clean Energy Associates, if the panels originate from China. The collective effect of multiple tariffs – including Section 201, 301, Anti-Dumping, and Countervailing Duties, could raise the price of imported panels by 15% with no Chinese connections, and up to 286% for Vietnamese modules, should the proposed rates be approved.

As the United States reassesses its shrinking manufacturing base relative to China’s expanding influence and considers the global geopolitical landscape, solar panel import tariffs continue to play a pivotal role in shaping the industry. Solar modules are now the world’s leading source of new energy, and international relations often hinge on energy politics. This is exemplified by the current war in Europe, which was precipitated by Russia using its gas resources to slow the continent’s response to its invasion of Ukraine, leading to a massive increase in the adoption of photovoltaics across the continent.

Since October 10, 2012, the Commerce Department, then under President Barack Obama, has subjected all solar modules containing key components from China to an import tariff. Now, in 2024, as the solar industry strives to fully scale and establish itself, the U.S. has imposed five import tariffs, one geographical import ban, and has also recently initiated an additional tariff case now under investigation.

Christian Roseland, an analyst at Clean Energy Associates, released a document titled “US Trade Policies That Affect Solar PV.” This document lists seven policies:

2012

Starting from the oldest, the original Antidumping and Countervailing Duties (AD/CVD) case of 2012 was applied to all solar cells originating in China. According to a fact sheet from the U.S. International Trade Administration, the Commerce Department found that “Chinese producers/exporters have sold solar cells in the United States at dumping margins ranging from 18.32 to 249.96 percent. Commerce also determined that Chinese producers/exporters have received countervailable subsidies of 14.78 to 15.97 percent.”

Although Suntech and Trina were most publicly associated with these solar panel import tariffs, the ruling covered all solar cells from China, including 59 additional companies explicitly named in the document.

2014

While it didn’t technically affect solar cell prices, in 2014, the Obama administration charged “Five Chinese Military Hackers for Cyber Espionage Against U.S. Corporations and a Labor Organization for Commercial Advantage.” These charges stemmed from the theft of “thousands of files including information about SolarWorld’s cash flow, manufacturing metrics, production line information, costs, and privileged attorney-client communications relating to ongoing trade litigation, among other things.”

2015

In February 2015, a second pair of duties targeted solar modules assembled in China and solar cells from Taiwan. The solar module duty focused on Trina and was extended to include Jinko Solar. It applied to all companies assembling solar modules in China using solar cells from any manufacturing hub. It was determined that China had started to manufacture cells outside its borders, only to import them later for module assembly. The second ruling aimed to curtail Chinese companies that were specifically investing in the production of solar cells in Taiwan for subsequent reimportation into China.

The tariff rates were 26% for Trina, 78% for Jinko, with a standard 52% for a large number of companies. Companies not on the original list faced a nationwide tariff of 165%.

2018

Following lawsuits by Suniva, the Trump administration implemented two additional tariffs: Section 201 & Section 301, applying to solar modules and hundreds of other items, respectively. The Section 201 tariff imposed a 30% import tariff on all solar modules from all countries, decreasing 5% annually until its scheduled end. The Biden administration later extended this tariff.

Initially, the Section 201 tariff excluded bifacial solar modules, as no significant U.S. production existed. However, as the U.S. module manufacturing base began to scale, the Biden administration recently reinstated a 15% tariff on bifacial modules.

2022a

The Uighur Protection Act aimed to ban all materials coming from the Xinjang region of China, identified as originating from forced labor. This region is noted for its solar polysilicon production, facilitated by inexpensive coal-powered electricity. As a result, significant volumes of solar modules were blocked from entering the U.S. by Customs.

In response, many solar manufacturers began to shift their sourcing of solar polysilicon away from this region, including all products coming into the United States. To prove the origin of the product, the industry has started to develop supply chain verification techniques, and some Chinese solar manufacturers have initiated agreements with international polysilicon groups.

2022b (2012 – Part 2)

After a lawsuit was dismissed in 2021 due to anonymity concerns, Auxin Solar filed an AD/CVD lawsuit targeting Chinese manufacturers who had relocated solar cell and module production to Southeast Asia, claiming these actions violated the 2012 circumvention ruling. In winter 2022, the ruling confirmed circumvention by four companies, while another four major companies were found compliant.

The ruling specified that Chinese-origin solar cells would not be tariffed if at least three of six key subcomponents, including silver paste, aluminum frames, glass, backsheets, ethylene vinyl acetate sheets, and junction boxes, also originated outside of China.

President Biden paused the resultant tariffs for two years to foster the expansion of the U.S. solar industry, aligning with the goals of the inflation Reduction Act. The suspension was strategically planned to bolster the manufacturing and installation sectors of the solar industry during a critical growth period before any reductions in imports were enacted. Recently, Auxin challenged this decision by filing a lawsuit against the pause. This tariff suspension is scheduled to conclude on June 6, 2024.

2024a (2018 Part 2)

The current administration has extended and increased tariffs under the Section 301 ruling established in 2018, now covering solar cells, as well as batteries for cars and grid storage. The tariff on solar cells has risen from 25% to 50%, and battery cells have seen increases up to 25%. Today, importing solar cells from China, which cost between a few cents to a nickel per watt, would see a tariff increase from $0.0125/Wdc to $0.025/Wdc with this hike.

2024b – Pending Investigation

A petition filed by the American Alliance for Solar Manufacturing Trade Committee, which includes First Solar, Qcells, Meyer Burger, REC Silicon, and others, claims that the U.S. “manufacturing renaissance” is threatened by heavily subsidized Chinese cells and modules. These are alleged to be in violation of antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) laws.

The petition advocates applying the logic of the 2012 and 2015 AD/CVD rulings, which contend that certain countries hosting solar cell and module assembly factories – Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam – are unfairly subsidizing those factories, affecting all crystalline solar cell and panel manufacturers in those countries.

In their filing, the group says, “Although the Petitioner does not identify specific subsidy rates from the Subject Countries, the Petition alleges that solar cells and modules are imported and dumped in the U.S. market at the (above) margins.” The rates alleged are 70.35% for Thailand, 81.24% for Malaysia, 127.06% for Cambodia, and 271.45% for Vietnam.

How to apply solar panel import tariffs

Solar tariffs are collected by customs agents. While the buyer ultimately pays for the tariffs in the long run, the immediate financial responsibility depends on the import technique – EXW, FCA, DDP, etc. This determines who writes the check at the moment of import approval and who might be responsible if the amounts are incorrect or if evolving laws change the tariff amounts.

When calculating the AD/CVD and Section 201/301 tariffs, each tariff percentage is applied to the purchase price of the product. Among the four AD/CVD tariffs, a single charge is applied, but this only pertains to modules from specific regions. Conversely, both the Section 201 and 301 tariffs are imposed on all solar modules globally.

For example, if a solar module costs $0.10 per watt, then the Section 201 tariff at 15% would add $0.015 per watt, and the Section 301 tariff at 50% would add $0.05 per watt.

For a 2015 AD/CVD non-compliant solar module, the tariffs would vary significantly by manufacturer and country. For instance, when importing from China, tariffs are 26% for Trina products, 78% for Jinko, with a standard rate of 52% applying to a large number of companies. Non-listed companies would face a 165% tariff, leading to additional costs ranging from $0.026 to $0.165 per watt due to tariffs.

Should the 2024b tariff be applied as proposed, tariffs would increase costs significantly, adding $0.07035 per watt for modules assembled in Thailand up to $0.27145 per watt for those from Vietnam. However, none of these countries would have the Section 301 tariff applied, as that tariff only applies to products manufactured in China.

In total, a solar module initially costing a dime per watt could eventually cost between $0.191 and $0.38 per watt – an increase of 91% to 286%.

In comparison to the Inflation Reduction Act

Solar panel import tariffs are primarily intended to support the development of a new U.S.-based solar module manufacturing supply chain, which is financially backed by the Inflation Reduction Act. This act introduces a series of tax credits designed to bolster domestic manufacturers.

For solar modules, the credits are as follows:

• Solar cells: 4 cents per direct current watt of capacity
• Solar wafers: $12 per square meter
• Solar grade polysilicon: $3 per kilogram
• Polymeric backsheet: 40 cents per square meter
• Solar modules: 7 cents per direct current watt of capacity

For inverters, the credit varies depending on the type and is applied per watt of alternating current:

• Central inverter: 0.25 cents
• Utility inverter: 1.5 cents
• Commercial inverters: 2 cents
• Residential inverters: 6.5 cents
• Microinverters: 11 cents

Additionally, torque tubes for racking will receive a credit of $0.87 per kilogram, and structural fasteners will receive $2.28 per kilogram. Detailed information on these production credits is available starting on page 414 of the Inflation Reduction Act.

Has the Inflation Reduction Act bolstered the U.S. solar supply chain?  Wood Mackenzie is tracking the capacity that manufacturers have announced will come online in the U.S.; however, three challenges remain including a balance of materials, pricing and tariffs.

RFP alert: CAISO and TID seek renewable energy and storage projects Using the Ascend Analytics Energy Exchange, Turlock Irrigation District announces a request for proposals to meet its California Renewable Portfolio Standards and reliability goals.

A new federal transmission rule won’t help renewables projects anytime soon Although promptly deploying grid-enhancing technologies and advanced conductors could speed interconnection in the short term, a new federal transmission rule will improve interconnection only once new transmission is built, said panelists on a webinar.

ABB launches smart panel for home energy management In partnership with Lumin, the company released an electric panel with software for controlling solar, batteries, EV chargers, and more.

Researchers build 24.4%-efficient perovskite solar cells with room temperature process Researchers from the U.S. and South Korea have developed a method to make high-quality perovskite films at room temperature. The film was tested in a conventional perovskite solar cell architecture and the result was a power conversion efficiency of exceeding 24%.

Startup uses agricultural waste to produce low-cost, safe batteries U.S.-based start-up SorbiForce uses no toxic products or metals in production of its batteries. It claims its systems are cheaper and safer than lithium-ion batteries and have near zero end-of-life waste.

Solar carport to provide 100% electricity needs for Los Angeles Six Flags  Recom Technologies was selected as the solar panel provider for the 12 MW solar carport.

The Turlock Irrigation District (TID) seeks to procure new or existing clean energy projects delivering either directly into California ISO (CAISO) or TID regions, via the Ascend Analytics Energy Exchange (AEX). TID is a publicly owned company that owns and operates an integrated and diverse electric generation, transmission and distribution system that provides power to a population of 240,000 in California.

The AEX is a marketplace that facilitates renewable energy transactions between buyers and sellers. Ascend AEX has facilitated the procurement of millions of megawatt-hours per year of renewable energy and battery storage capacity.

Offers may be structured as all-in power purchase agreements (PPAs), bundled renewable energy credits (RECs) or ownership offers.

All offers must have a minimum nameplate capacity of 50 MW or annual renewable generation of at least 150,000 MWh. Acceptable commercial operation dates are no later than December 31, 2030.

TID seeks proposals for Portfolio Content Category 1 (PCC) eligible renewable generation (including solar photovoltaic, wind, biomass, biofuel, small hydroelectric generation, and geothermal) or PCC1 renewable generation plus storage (hybrid). Storage discharge duration must be at least 4 hours.

Offers are grouped in two categories:

Group A: Proposals for direct delivery to TID’s balancing authority (BA) system Power Purchase Agreements (All-in): All-in PPAs must have a term length between 10 and 30 years. Ownership Options: EPC contracts for turnkey projects with the option of offering a long-term service agreement (LTSA).

Group B: Proposals for CAISO connected resources: PPAs (All-in, Energy + RECs, Index+): All-in PPAs must have a term length between 10 and 30 years and bundled RECs (fixed price or Index+) must be between 10 and 20 years. Ownership offers will not be considered for Group B projects.

Build option proposals can take the following forms:

1. Build a power generation facility, retain 100% ownership of the facility, operate the same facility, and sell the
facility’s output to TID (respondent submits a PPA offer).
2. Build a power generation facility, TID owns 100% of the facility, TID operates the same facility, and TID takes the
facility’s output (respondent submits an ownership offer).

Regardless of the form of the build option, Respondents submitting proposals that include a build option must provide,
after being shortlisted, a legal analysis of how their proposal will comply with California procurement laws. Proposed build
options that do not comply with the procurement laws of California will not be considered.

Note that standalone storage and RA-only offers will not be considered as part of this RFP.

The RFP team will host an informational webinar for interested bidders on June 19th at 11 a.m.PT. Submissions are due July 2, 2024, at 5 p.m. PT. To participate, ask questions, and receive RFP updates and materials, prospects must register on the TID RFP website.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 sets forth both demand and supply-side incentives to encourage solar manufacturing within the U.S., both in the form of production tax credits for manufacturers and investment tax credits for project developers using domestic content. While these incentives have driven a rush of investments on U.S. lands in from major global solar component providers, Wood Mackenzie takes a look at whether the IRA is paying off in terms of growing a supply chain that includes solar components such as wafers, cells, modules and more.

According to Michelle Davis, head of global solar at Wood Mackenzie, the IRA has successfully promoted domestic solar manufacturing investment. Wood Mac is looking at 144 GW of announced module manufacturing capacity, 71 GW of cell manufacturing capacity and 61 GW of wafer manufacturing capacity by 2027. Compare this to the 26 GW of module capacity we have today, along with no wafer or cell production.

But announced versus expected are two different things, and several challenges put the buildout at risk. Wood Mac predicts only about 45% of module capacity, 25% of cell capacity, and 5% of wafer capacity will come to fruition.

According to Davis, “Some investments will fall through and less experienced companies won’t have the expertise and wherewithal to execute on their plans”.

The first challenge, she notes, is seen in the discrepancy between the capacity of modules being produced in the U.S. compared to cells and wafer. As a result, the domestic industry will continue to rely on imports for these upstream materials.

While announced capacity of 71 GW of cell manufacturing and 61 GW of wafer manufacturing could come online by 2027, cell and wafer facilities are much more expensive and complex plants to build. Davis said that because the likelihood of success is lower than with module manufacturing plants, the U.S. solar industry will continue to rely on imported cells and wafers.

The second challenge, according to Davis, is that very few of the “other” solar components are made in the U.S. and this includes glass, backsheets, frames, junction boxes and more. As demand increases, capacity will grow—but it will take time.

One example is U.S. dependence on aluminum module frames, which are mostly imported from East and Southeast Asia, and the report notes that they are all made from carbon-intensive aluminum. A report produced by Wood Mackenzie and Origami Solar, a manufacturer of steel frames, says that if the U.S. solar industry switched from aluminum to recycled steel frames, it would no longer be dependent on foreign imports because “the  massive, well-established U.S. steel industry is positioned to easily meet the demand of domestic manufacturers with a more reliable, durable, less carbon-intensive, and readily available product”.

A third challenge is price. With overseas manufacturers expanding stockpiles, oversupply is causing steep price competition, according to Davis, and U.S. manufacturers are selling modules at a loss to compete.

In response to the price competition, the Department of Commerce initiated its investigation for alleged antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) infractions in Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, and Cambodia. Historically, tariffs have ranged as high as 50% to 250% of the cost of shipped goods. The International Trade Commission (ITC) must make a preliminary determination by June 10, 2024, on whether the domestic industry has suffered injury from import of dumped goods.

These issues and challenges will be discussed in the upcoming Wood Mackenzie’s Solar and Energy Storage Summit June 12 to 13 in San Francisco.

CPUC vote expected to keep California community solar from reaching its full potential Coalition for Community Solar Access says the 3-1 vote ignored the will of the California Legislature and the broad coalition of ratepayer, equity, environmental, labor, agricultural, and business groups who have demanded a functional community solar program for more than a decade.

Alliant Energy completes 200 MW solar project in Wisconsin  The project is part of a multi-phase buildout of 12 solar projects totaling over 1 GW.

Long-duration energy storage poised to outcompete lithium-ion batteries While most long-duration energy storage (LDES) technologies are still early-stage and costly compared to lithium-ion batteries, some have already or are set to achieve lower costs for longer durations, finds BloombergNEF.

Solar wafer prices continue to soften, complex international trade situation sparks concerns  In a weekly update for pv magazine, OPIS, a Dow Jones company, provides a quick look at the main price trends in the global PV industry.

Gulf heat dome and polar jet stream shape solar outcomes in May In a weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that a strong polar jet stream and a record-breaking heat dome in May resulted in a stark contrast in irradiance patterns across North America. The western and central USA, along with Mexico, experienced higher than normal irradiance, while the Gulf and East Coast regions faced lower irradiance.

TCL Zhonghuan reveals plans to acquire majority stake in Maxeon Chinese wafer manufacturer TCL Zhonghuan says it wants to invest around $197.5 million to increase its stake in Maxeon from 22.39% to at least 50.1%. A Maxeon spokesperson told pv magazine that the plan would place the company in a solid financial position.

Are false pretenses driving solar cell tariff case? Global manufacturer Canadian Solar challenges prevailing support for tariffs among solar manufacturers, questions the accuracy of capacity estimations, and adverse financial effects.

Solar import tariffs aim to level the playing field by addressing the market price disparities of solar power hardware originating from China, while supporting domestic manufacturers. This strategy is part of the United States government’s broader efforts to protect national security and combat climate change.

Recently, these tariffs have ranged from symbolic warning shots to upward price adjustments that might increase the cost of solar modules and energy storage. Additional looming tariffs on solar panels, aluminum, steel, and other materials could further escalate industry costs.

Canadian Solar is a global company whose products bear multiple import tariffs. As well, in response to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Canadian Solar plans to begin manufacturing solar cells in Indiana and assembling modules in Texas.

During a case initiated by the global Hanwha Q Cell at the U.S. International Trade Commission, Jonathan Stoel, a partner at Hogan Lovells LLP and counsel for Canadian Solar’s U.S. Module Manufacturing Corporation, made a statement they also provided to pv magazine USA. He argued that the case was “brought entirely on false pretenses and based on fundamentally erroneous predicates.”

Stoel outlined the perceived inaccuracies:

• The assertion by other petitioners that 36 GW of solar panels are at stake in this ruling is a significant overestimation, likely intentional.
• The claim that the majority of the solar manufacturing industry supports the tariffs is misleading. In reality, only three companies – major one though – have advocated for the tariffs. It was noted that most companies planning to assemble solar panels in the U.S., due to the IRA incentives, oppose the import tariffs on solar cells because they rely on importing these components.
• Solar cells and solar modules are distinct technologies. Stoel cited evidence that Hanwha’s Q Cell operates two separate facilities for manufacturing solar cells, while also importing solar modules. It is important to note, as pv magazine USA adds, that the nation’s largest solar manufacturer, First Solar, integrates the production of solar cells and modules in a single process. However, this case specifically addresses crystalline solar cells, which First Solar does not produce.
• Stoel emphasized that Hanwha’s expansion in Georgia was primarily motivated by government incentives, which is the very thing that this case seems to push back against.

In response to the points raised, Stoel urged the court to recognize several key aspects of the case: (1) it was filed on dubious grounds; (2) major manufacturers, not a majority, are opposed to imports; (3) modules and cells are distinct products; (4) the import volumes are far less significant than suggested and have not caused material harm; (5) adverse price effects have not been observed; (6) the court should consider the financial health and growth of the industry, spurred by incentives introduced by the IRA; (7) many US companies involved, including Hanwha’s Q Cell which initiated the case, have substantial international connections.

Despite the claims regarding the absence of adverse price effects, the cost of solar cells and modules in the United States has dramatically decreased. This reduction is due to a collapse in Chinese polysilicon pricing and a rapid increase in manufacturing capacity. Since even Chinese manufacturers, such as Longi, have acknowledged that this surge in capacity is negatively affecting their business, it can be fairly inferred that competing companies might perceive these developments as disadvantageous.

Ultimately, while the tariffs are presented as protective measures for domestic industries, their effectiveness is debatable. The global dynamics of the solar market and strategic responses by manufacturers suggest that these measures might serve more as diplomatic signaling than impactful economic barriers. Historically speaking, as noted in the above chart, tariffs alone haven’t shown to grow the U.S. solar manufacturing base – however – the IRA did.

What tax credit transfer buyers need to know about IRA compliance The key to ensuring expected financial returns from the IRA comes down to a single word: compliance, and tax credit compliance is fraught with risk and complex to manage.

Solar peaks at 123% of grid, supplies 31% of California’s April electricity The Golden State set multiple clean energy records in April, with solar power increasingly dominating the grid, supported by robust energy storage solutions.

Perovskites move into production Perovskites remain a great hope for the future of the solar industry, once the possibilities of tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) and heterojunction PV have been exhausted. A look at the latest perovskite research shows that industry optimism is built on a strong foundation.

Solar industry panel cautions about 2025 Texas Legislature According to BloombergNEF’s just released 1H 2024 US Clean Energy Market Outlook, Texas promises to top the charts in terms of solar, wind and battery storage deployments in the period from 2024 to 2035. But it’s position as the number one U.S. state for renewable energy is not a given, as panelists made clear at last week’s RE+ Texas conference in Houston, Texas.

The Hydrogen Stream: Nikola to sell 100 fuel-cell hydrogen trucks to Port of LA In a hydrogen news roundup: Nikola plans to sell 100 hydrogen fuel-cell trucks for logistic operations in California, Volvo has started developing hydrogen combustion trucks, and Airbus has announced plans to launch a study into hydrogen projects in the US state of Georgia.

Energy security in renewables-based systems A new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) examines the global energy system’s transformation and its implications for energy security. It tells policymakers that energy security in renewables-based systems will require multi-dimensional thinking.

When is the next Aurora due and what’s the impact on solar generation? In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, explains that the solar cycle does tend to increase the earth’s average annual extra-terrestrial irradiance, but only by a very small amount. It also explains that, while the annual cycle of extra-terrestrial irradiance causes a steady, predictable and significant 3.5% change through the seasonal cycle, the peak of the 11-year cycle of solar activity causes a smaller, more sporadic and unpredictable set of fluctuations.

“Green zealots” scare Florida administration from 100% renewable goal In a significant policy reversal, Florida has scrapped its renewable energy targets for 2050, imposed a complete ban on offshore wind projects, and eased regulations for gas pipeline expansions.

PERC solar products hard to sell due to falling TOPCon module prices Prices for tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar panels continue to fall. pvXchange.com founder Martin Schachinger explains how this will affect the sale of PV modules based on passivated emitter and rear cell (PERC) cells.

Colorado modernizes community solar program Governor Polis signed into law bipartisan legislation that launches a new dispatchable distributed generation program and leverages Solar for All funding to upgrade its grid, lower energy bills for all and promote energy equity.

SunPower now offers Tesla Powerwall 3 to residential solar customers SunPower Financial reported it has expanded its suite of solar financing options to include loan and lease financing through Mosaic for Tesla battery installations.

California is now a batteries-included rooftop solar market About 60% of customers have included battery energy storage with their rooftop solar installation, up from roughly 10% prior. However, a “sustained downturn” is expected for the market.

Bladeless wind energy innovation aims to compete with rooftop solar A compact, “motionless” wind turbine with a magnetic generator designed for large commercial rooftops provides 5 kW of capacity per unit. Aeromine Technologies secured Series A funding for scaling its innovative design.

Quantifying losses from harmonics in solar facilities Gamesa Electric has released a white paper on losses due to harmonics in PV plants, including an independent study that compares the performance of ultra-low total harmonic distortion inverters.

Research shows repaired PV modules can perform with acceptable losses A research group has demonstrated the technical feasibility of using repaired solar modules with satisfying results. It also warned, however, that there is an urgent need to define a protocol for evaluating the features of a “viable” repaired panel.

From pv magazine Global

There has been little movement in the price of solar modules in the low-performance class this month. However, there was a significant price adjustment for modules with efficiency levels of more than 22%.

The prices of these modules, which are now mainly equipped with n-type/TOPCon cells and double-glass, are increasingly aligning with those of mainstream modules. There are only upward outliers for some types with interdigitated back-contact (IBC) or heterojunction (HJT) technology, which are not considered separately in this analysis.

Production volumes in China for n-type cells and modules appear to have increased, but the new customs situation in the United States might already be having an impact. The question is, what will this do to the European market? Increasingly lower prices would mean that demand would continue to rise if it weren’t for several disruptive factors.

There are still larger stocks of modules produced in 2023 or earlier at distributors, but also among installers themselves. However, if these measure 2 sqm in size, they are selling poorly due to their low performance. Building owners usually want to see high performance and the latest technology installed in new systems, which makes it much more difficult for existing goods to sell.

Despite the expected reduction in module production and import volumes, more Asian modules are still reaching the European market than are currently in demand. This is causing inventories to grow, even for high-performance models, putting additional pressure on module prices.

Inventories of old modules, which were produced and purchased at significantly higher prices in the past, must therefore be continually devalued. However, this is not possible for all players, which means that there are very different prices for modules with PERC technology in the market. Overall, the price difference between these categories is increasingly shrinking.

Africa and Southeast Asia will probably also become oversaturated with modules and Chinese products cannot be sold to the U.S. market. One strategy that is becoming popular is to accommodate the soft factors of the commercial business – that is, payment and delivery conditions. Instead of offering modules at lower prices, credit lines are granted – often without requiring collateral – and free delivery is promised. However, it is doubtful that this tactic will work over the long term. Many smaller companies, in particular, are on the brink and imminent payment defaults cannot be ruled out.

Some suppliers also take refuge in online marketplaces, where they try to quickly sell their stock goods to international customers without incurring sales and marketing costs. But the competitive pressure there is also great and such goods can often only be sold at dumping prices. The other issue is that there is hardly any way to get to know the potential business partner in advance –you have to take what you get.

Misunderstandings can arise in business transactions, especially across national borders, and online platform operators are not always available to provide support and advice. The efforts involved in running an online business quickly become greater than purchasing or selling within an established business relationship.

My preference for using surplus older modules is clear: installing them in larger open-space or rooftop systems. The often smaller formats are not a bad choice, especially in areas with higher wind or snow loads. The material and assembly costs increase slightly in favor of better statics, but the easier handling makes up for the disadvantage.

And there is another undeniable advantage: the modules are already in stock and are therefore guaranteed to be available, meaning there can be no delivery problems and thus delays in the construction process. You may also find a few unsold inverters and cable reels, and then the components for your PV system are almost complete.

Once a system has been built and connected to a network, nobody is interested in whether the modules are of the very latest generation or not. In any case, the resulting assets can be sold.

Martin Schachinger studied electrical engineering and has been active in the field of photovoltaics and renewable energy for almost 30 years. In 2004, he set up a business, founding the pvXchange.com online trading platform. The company stocks standard components for new installations and solar modules and inverters that are no longer being produced.

The Biden Administration has released a fact sheet detailing multiple solar panel related policies, including the removal of the bifacial solar panel exemption. This exemption previously allowed certain solar panels to bypass the Trump-era 15% tariff. The reinstatement of this tariff is expected to increase the cost of commercial, industrial, and utility-scale solar projects by 1% to 2%.

White House Fact Sheet

The administration also reiterated its focus on the solar sector, along with plans for continued expansion of its manufacturing base. This release follows yesterday’s announcement where the administration heightened the import tariffs on Chinese solar cells from 25% to 50%.

In late 2022, the Biden administration imposed tariffs on solar modules from four Southeast Asian countries but delayed their implementation for two years to ensure business continuity. With this delay set to end next month, the White House announced that the “Department of Energy and the Department of Commerce will closely monitor import patterns to ensure the U.S. market does not become oversaturated” with stockpiled modules or products resulting from other unfair practices that might circumvent the ruling.

In response to today’s announcement, Danny O’Brien, President of Corporate Affairs at Qcells, expressed support: “Today’s announcement is yet another signal that President Biden is serious about ensuring the long-term success of solar manufacturing in the United States.”

However, the Solar Energy Manufacturers Association (SEMA) found the action lacking. “Lifting the exemption reinstates a 15% tariff, providing important, but sadly still insufficient, relief from anti-competitive trade practices until the tariff is set to expire in February 2026.”

SEMA is committed to collaborating with the administration to ensure the utilization of all solar panels from tariffed regions within the country by December 2024. Some estimate that over 100 GW of solar panels are currently stockpiled in the U.S., with projections of more than 45 GW by the end of 2023.

The fact sheet also indicated that the Treasury Department is set to release additional guidance on the domestic content requirements of the Inflation Reduction Act. It states, “Today’s Notice creates a new elective safe harbor that gives clean energy developers the option of relying on Department of Energy-provided default cost percentages to determine bonus eligibility.”

To support the domestic solar panel assembly industry, the cap on importing solar cells under Section 201 tariffs was raised from 5 GW to 7.5 GW. This measure aims to support the announced 125 GW of solar module assembly manufacturing capacity without stifling emerging solar cell production.

Bifacial solar panels, which are predominantly used in commercial, industrial, and utility-scale solar power projects, were previously exempt from tariffs. With the removal of this exemption, the cost of imported bifacial solar panels, typically ranging from $0.10-0.25 per watt, will increase by $0.015 to $0.0375 per watt. For commercial projects with installation costs between $1.50 and $2.75 per watt, these increases will result in system price hikes of about 1-2%. Bifacial panels now represent 98% of all solar panels imported into these sectors.

Due to significant reductions in solar panel prices, which have fallen from $0.30-0.40 per watt two years ago, the impact of these tariffs remains less severe today. However, the industry still faces financial uncertainties as the June 2022 tariff delay approaches its expiration, and new AD/CVD cases have been filed recently.

This article was amended on 5/23/24 to correct the change in solar panel prices, which have fallen $0.30-$0.40 per watt rather than the $30 to $40 per watt as originally state.

U.S. government doubles tariff rates on PV cell imports from China to 50% The administration of President Joe Biden raised tariff rates on PV cell imports from China from 25% to 50%. It also increased the tariff rates for semiconductors, electric vehicles, and EV batteries from China, among other goods.

PV players wrestle tariff threat and oversupply  The requirements of measures such as the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) mean that solar panel prices in the United States can be twice as much as in Europe. 

Midea unveils outdoor residential heat pump Midea says its new outdoor residential Evox G3 Heat Pump ranges in size from 1.5 tons to 5 tons, with a coefficient of performance of 1.8. It features enhanced vapor injection technology and uses A2L as the refrigerant.

People on the move: Schneider Electric, Lightsource bp, GoodFinch and more Job moves in solar, storage, cleantech, utilities and energy transition finance.

Catalyze secures $100 million to support 79 MW New York solar portfolio The funding comes from NY Green Bank, which is requiring that a significant percentage of solar project subscribers benefit disadvantaged communities.

From pv magazine Global

The U.S. government decided to raise the tariff rates it applies to solar cells imported from China from 25% to 50%.

“The tariff increase will protect against China’s policy-driven overcapacity that depresses prices and inhibits the development of solar capacity outside of China,” the White House said in a statement. “China has used unfair practices to dominate upwards of 80 to 90% of certain parts of the global solar supply chain, and is trying to maintain that status quo. Chinese policies and non-market practices are flooding global markets with artificially cheap solar modules and panels, undermining investment in solar manufacturing outside of China.”

The Biden administration has also decided to raise tariff rates on aluminum and steel imported from China, from 0% to 7.5% up to 25%, as well as those applied to semiconductors, from 25% to 50%.

In addition, it has decided to raise tariffs imposed on electric vehicles from 25% to 100% and those on lithium-ion EV batteries from 7.5%% to 25%. The government has also increased the tariffs on ship-to-shore cranes and medical products.

“American workers and businesses can outcompete anyone—as long as they have fair competition. But for too long, China’s government has used unfair, non-market practices,” the US government said. “China’s forced technology transfers and intellectual property theft have contributed to its control of 70%, 80%, and even 90% of global production for the critical inputs necessary for our technologies, infrastructure, energy, and health care – creating unacceptable risks to America’s supply chains and economic security.”

FERC transmission rule to shore up the nation’s power grid The ruling, which is being praised by industry groups, is the first time in more than a decade that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has addressed regional transmission policy as well as the need for long-term transmission planning.

Solar powered electric truck stop opens in California WattEV’s 5.7 MW solar-powered truck stop, with demand charge management driven by solar-;plus-storage, has begun operations in Bakersfield, California.

Powering drones with ultra-thin, flexible perovskite PV cells An Austrian research team has demonstrated that lightweight, flexible and ultra-thin perovskite solar technology can power palm-sized autonomous drones.

Trina Solar records 65.21 GW of solar module shipments for 2023 Trina Solar says its solar panel shipments reached 65.21 GW in 2023. The Chinese module maker achieved a turnover of $15.75 billion and a net profit of $768.2 million in fiscal 2023, with an annual module production capacity of 95 GW by the end of December.

Two approaches to save net metering in Puerto Rico A solar trade group wants the White House to appoint new pro-solar members to the federal oversight board that has challenged Puerto Rico’s net metering law, while the former president of the Puerto Rico Senate advises considering amending the law.

From pv magazine Global

Trina Solar said it recorded $15.75 billion of revenue in 2023, up 33.32% year on year. Its net profit rose 50.26% to $768.2 million.

Its total PV module shipments reached 65.21GW in 2023, up 51.33% year on year. Its gross profit margin on module sales hit 15.54%. By the end of March 2024, Trina Solar’s cumulative global module shipments surpassed 205 GW, with high-power modules based on 210 mm large-size wafers accounting for more than 120 GW of its total shipments.

The company’s annual report highlighted significant growth across various business segments, with residential PV system shipments reaching 9.6 GW, for a 54.8% year-on-year increase. Its racking business delivered 9.6 GW (including 4.6 GW of trackers), marking a 118.2% year-on-year improvement. Trina Solar said it expects robust growth across these segments in 2024, with ambitious business targets of 80 GW to 90 GW of module shipments, a 20% expansion of its residential PV business, and 50% growth in its racking business.

Trina Solar’s production capacity across polysilicon wafers, solar cells, and PV modules stood at 55 GW, 75 GW, and 95 GW, respectively, by the end of 2023. N-type TOPCon cells accounted for 40 GW of its solar cell capacity. Looking ahead, it said it will scale up its production capacity to 60 GW, 105 GW, and 120 GW for polysilicon wafers, solar cells, and PV modules, respectively.

Trina Solar’s sales of large-scale energy storage containers and systems had penetrated six regional markets by the close of 2023, including China, Europe, Asia-Pacific, North America, Central and East Africa, and Latin America. Its cumulative shipment volume reached nearly 5 GWh. This year, it said it has solidified supply and strategic partnerships with energy companies such as Low Carbon, Pacific Green, and EcoSourcen.

Trina Solar allocated $768.1 million for R&D initiatives in 2023, up 19.69% year on year. The company is actively engaged in 26 R&D projects, with a particular focus on advancing energy storage solutions. These projects range from battery pack innovations to comprehensive system integration solutions.

Trina Solar said that short-term challenges stemming from price declines in the industrial chain due to heightened competition could affect enterprise profitability. However, the company noted that integrated enterprises with strong control over downstream component sales can safeguard their upstream operations, establish cost competitiveness, and expand market share.

Heliene inks supply agreement with UGE for U.S.-made solar modules With the Heliene supply agreement in place, UGE is projected to begin qualifying for the domestic content adder on projects that start construction as early as this summer.

Energy transition needs batteries… and more batteries A recent IEA report says China holds all the cards in chemistry and production.

Sunrun to aid California in its electricity imbalance with home solar and battery VPP Over 16,000 Sunrun customers will supply the grid during peak electricity demand events.

$20 Million federal initiative targets low-emission silicon and thin film research The Solar Energy Technologies Office has launched a dual initiative to propel upstream advancements in a collection of solar cell types, and to reduce the emissions of solar-grade polysilicon under 1 kg CO2 per kg.

Longi announces 27.30% efficiency for heterojunction back contact solar cell The Chinese module manufacturer said the new efficiency record was confirmed by Germany’s Institute for Solar Energy Research (ISFH).

Enteligent taking pre-orders for DC-to-DC solar-powered EV charger The company reports that the hybrid bi-directional EV charger can supply 12.5 kW of fast DC charging, charging two times faster than AC Level 2 EV chargers.

California approves uncapped fixed charges on electricity bills An uncapped average monthly charge of $24 will be added regardless of the amount of electricity used at home, sparking the ire of consumer advocates and energy conservationists.

The energy transition from fossil fuels to non-emitting sources, such as renewables and nuclear power is only in its early stages and the effects on policy and energy infrastructure are already massive.

One aspect of the transition has become clear: Retreating from baseline generation in favor of intermittent sources such as solar and wind generation is going to require tremendous increases in long-term energy storage capacity beyond traditional physical means, such as pumped hydro and flywheels. For renewable energy sources, the killer app is battery storage. This is true on a worldwide basis.

The International Energy Agency (IEA), a global organization that monitors energy policy and technology developments for governments and industry, has released a report saying batteries are absolutely essential to the energy transition and represent the fastest growing energy technology in 2003, when the latest data were compiled.

More specifically, battery storage for the power sector was the top growth area, with deployment more than doubling from 2022. The report said this growth was strong across generation categories: utility-scale battery projects, behind-the-meter storage, mini-grids and residential solar systems. Together, these applications added 42 GW of battery storage capacity globally, the report said.

While consumer demand and other applications remain strong, the IEA said 90% of annual lithium-ion battery demand in 2023 came from the energy sector. This is up from 50% 2016, when the total lithium-ion battery market was 10-times smaller. The report said that despite demand, performance and supply chains for lithium-ion batteries have increased to keep pace with requirements.

According to the IEA, expansion in EV sales have not diminished the availability of lithium-ion batteries for other sectors. Lithium-ion chemistries represent nearly all batteries in EVs, the report said.

The one fly in the ointment is that while the demand for battery storage for energy and EVs is essentially global among developed countries, the supply of dominant lithium-ion batteries is very concentrated.

The report says:

While the global battery supply chain is complex, every step in it – from the extraction of mineral ores to the use of high-grade chemicals for the manufacture of battery components in the final battery pack – has a high degree of geographic concentration. Battery manufacturers are dependent on a small number of countries for the raw material supply and extraction of many critical minerals. China undertakes well over half of global raw material processing for lithium and cobalt and has almost 85% of global battery cell production capacity. Europe, the United States and Korea each hold 10% or less of the supply chain for some battery metals and cells today.

Image: CC BY 4.0. 

Anza, a solar and energy storage procurement platform, announced it has introduced expanded capabilities and now has over 20 energy storage products on its platform.

In 2023 Anza was spun out of Borrego Solar after Borrego developed the solar and battery storage online marketplace and optimization solution. The proprietary software that drives the digital marketplace identifies the most optimized solar module and storage components based on customer-provided project details.

The Anza marketplace is designed to give procurement professionals, developers and engineers access to the data they need to evaluate storage product pricing over a project’s lifetime. With solutions for the utility-scale and distributed generation market, Anza’s Effective $/Watt analytics allows users compare products based on risk, production and installation cost.

“Project developers and procurement professionals are faced with an escalating number of factors they must consider when evaluating an energy storage project, and the lack of real-time pricing among all the different product options and configurations slows decision making and increases risk,” said Mike Hall, CEO of Anza.

The Anza platform was developed to offer engineers and procurement professionals a streamlined way to obtain product and pricing data from multiple suppliers. Anza reports that its platform enables IPPs, developers and engineers the ability to instantly compare AC and DC energy storage systems (ESS), thus saving what could amount to considerable time and money.

“The Anza platform enables us to evaluate multiple energy storage products and PCS configurations in seconds,” said James Beach, co-founder and managing partner, EnerSmart Storage. “With Anza’s specialized technical and commercial expertise, it’s a no-brainer to partner with them in this rapidly evolving market.”

In its first year as a separate company, Anza has experienced 100% growth and the platform has facilitated the assessment of more than 35 GW of solar and 75 GWh of energy storage across over 1,000 projects to date, the company reports.

Microsoft announced it has entered the largest-ever corporate power purchase agreement (PPA) for renewable energy, signing on for more than 10.5 GW of capacity in the United States and Europe.

The projects are slated to begin construction in 2026. Bloomberg NEF estimates the portfolio will take over $11.5 billion to build. Microsoft and Brookfield said the deal is nearly eight times larger than any other single corporate renewable PPA.

The companies said the agreement will focus largely on solar and wind generation but will also include “new or impactful carbon free energy generation technologies.”

“It is absolutely the largest single announcement for a corporate clean-power purchase agreement ever,” said BloombergNEF analyst Kyle Harrison. “It cements Microsoft as the second-largest corporate buyer of clean energy through PPAs, after Amazon.”

U.S. power consumption has undergone minimal growth over the past two decades, but demand is ramping up quickly as datacenters supporting the development and operations of AI have enormous electricity requirements. Power generator Exelon Corp projected a 900% increase in power demand in the Chicago area from planned datacenters.

Sharply increasing power requirements combined with corporate goals for clean energy adoption are expected to continue to generate demand for renewables. Microsoft plans to match all its electricity consumption with net-zero energy purchases by 2030.

Microsoft has been active in solar PPA procurement, securing two PPAs for 400 MW in Texas, and a 98 MW project in Louisiana. It also agreed to a 12 GW solar module procurement deal with Qcells, which includes engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services from the module provider over an eight-year period.

In addition to procuring renewable energy to lessen its emissions profile, Microsoft is taking steps to reduce the power demand of its datacenters. The company is developing liquid-immersion cooling, grid-interactive uninterrupted power supply (UPS) batteries, and more.

Brookfield Renewable has undergone considerable growth in recent years. In 2023, it secured the largest merger and acquisition transaction in renewable energy, securing utility Duke Energy’s unregulated utility-scale commercial renewables business for $2.8 billion.

U.S. solar manufacturing and the SEMA Coalition expansion Solar Energy Manufacturers for America Coalition has a goal of rebuilding the solar supply chain in the U.S.

Solar mounting system update K2 releases a new product, and Martin Roofing & Solar’s hidden-fastening solar mount achieves UL 2703 certification.

California batteries dominate evening grid with 10 GW/40 GWh of capacity  The state is once again setting springtime output records from solar, while energy storage takes over the peak electricity demand period becoming the maximum output source.

IEC develops standards for vehicle-integrated photovoltaics In its first monthly column for pv magazine, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) explains how a team of its experts is currently working on the definition of new standards for VIPV systems.

CATL presents EV battery with 1,000 km range Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL) has shown its latest lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery at an auto show in Beijing. The Chinese company says it has an energy density of 205 Wh per kg, almost 8% higher than the current state of the art for such batteries.

Birch Creek to procure 547 MW of U.S.-made First Solar modules Birch Creek, which has a portfolio of over 14.2 GW of utility-scale solar and storage projects in various stages of development, says it plans to deploy the First Solar modules in projects across its development pipeline in the United States.

First Solar, Inc. announced an agreement to supply Birch Creek Energy with 547 MW of advanced Series 6 Plus bifacial thin film solar modules.

Birch Creek Energy, based in St. Louis, Missouri, is a utility-scale solar developer that develops, finances and owns utility-scale solar and storage projects in the U.S.

Operating since 2019, the company has developed 1.7 GW of solar projects and has a portfolio of over 14.2 GW of utility-scale solar and storage projects in various stages of development across MISO, PJM, ERCOT and the Southeast. The company was named the 3rd fastest growing privately-held company in America, and fastest-growing energy company on the 2023 Inc. 5000 list.

Birch Creek says it plans to deploy the First Solar modules in projects across its development pipeline in the United States.

“We are pleased to establish this relationship with First Solar, which we expect will enable certainty of module supply for a critical part of our development pipeline,” said Dan Siegel, CEO of Birch Creek. “By choosing to buy our modules from First Solar, we are strengthening our domestic content strategy with a trusted partner that delivers a competitive product.”

First Solar had a U.S.-made nameplate capacity 6 GW at the end of 2023, and is expected to expand to 14 GW by 2026 with announced manufacturing expansion in the U.S. Its $1.1 billion Alabama factory and $185 million expansion of its existing facilities in Ohio are expected to bring its total investment in American manufacturing to over $4 billion.. It expects to add at least 850 new manufacturing jobs and over 100 new R&D jobs, taking its total number of direct jobs in the U.S. to over 3,000 people in four states by 2025.

In addition to providing multi-gigawatts of domestic content to the U.S. market, First Solar’s investments in U.S. manufacturing are also bringing jobs. According to a recent study commissioned by First Solar, current operations supported an estimated 16,245 direct, indirect, and induced jobs in 2023, representing approximately $1.6 billion in annual labor income. The company says that in 2026 it is forecast to support an estimated 30,060 direct, indirect, and induced jobs across the country. The study projects that every direct job First Solar supports in 2026 will support 7.3 jobs nationwide.

South Korea plans 120 GW space solar project Two Korean research institutes are designing the 2.2 km × 2.7 km Korean Space Solar Power Satellite project with the aim of providing approximately 1 TWh of electricity to the Earth per year. The proposed system should use 4,000 sub-solar arrays of 10 m × 270 m, made out of thin film roll-out, with a system power efficiency of 13.5%.

Sungrow posts $1.3 billion profit for 2023  Chinese inverter manufacturer Sungrow shipped 130 GW of inverters last year, reaching a profit of $1.3 billion.

Hitachi Energy to invest more than $100 million to manufacture transformers in Canada  To help meet the demand for transformers, the Government of Quebec is helping with funding of a testing facility as well as an engineering and design center.

New green bank to support distributed solar and storage in the Appalachian region The Green Bank for Rural America will support community lenders in Appalachian communities to finance climate-supporting projects including distributed solar and storage. The bank and four others received a total of $6 billion in federal awards.

Major defense company plans to reduce emissions 46% by 2030 RTX, formerly Raytheon, signs an agreement with Engie North America to buy 1.5 million MWh of renewable energy over the next ten years, spurring further growth of Texas solar development.

Hitachi Energy today announced plans to upgrade and modernization of its power transformer factory in Varennes, and other facilities in Montreal, Canada to help address the great transformer shortage in North America.

More than $100 million includes funding from the Government of Quebec through Investissement Quebec to establish a state-of-the-art testing facility for large power transformers and a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) engineering and design center. Hitachi expects the expansion to create around 70 jobs.

The transformer shortage is felt in countries across the globe but is especially acute where clean energy and energy storage systems are expanding rapidly. Other causes of the shortages include shortages of raw materials, backlogs after the pandemic, labor constraints, shipping issues and more.

The Varennes facility is Hitachi Energy’s main manufacturing location for large power transformers in North America. The facility has been in operation since 1971, covers over 300,000 square feet and employs around 330 people.

The company sees the establishment of a new 130,000 square foot transformer testing facility on the manufacturing site in Varennes as a critical element of the company’s efforts to meet growing demand in the province for sustainable energy solutions. The testing facility is expected to be completed before the end of 2027.

This initiative aligns with Quebec’s broader strategy to meet its ambitious energy goals, including the need for more than 150 TWh of additional energy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 – around twice what Quebec consumes today.

“Globally, demand for transformers and electrical equipment continues to grow at an unprecedented scale… In addition to our global investments, the support of the Quebec Government will help to address North America’s rising demand for transformers to support fast-growing sectors like renewable energy, data centers, and industrial electrification, as Quebec strengthens its role as a key player in the energy transition,” said Bruno Melles, business unit transformers, managing director at Hitachi Energy.

The investment in transformer facilities in Canada follows closely after the company investments of over $1.5 billion to ramp up its global transformer manufacturing capacity to keep pace with the growing demand and support the long-term plans and electrification efforts. About $180 million of that investment, for example, will go to build a new state-of-the-art transformer factory in the Vaasa region, Finland.

In the U.S. Hitachi Energy recently announced  plans to invest more than $37 million in expanding and modernizing its power transformer manufacturing facility in South Boston, Virginia. In addition to its own funds, Hitachi Energy has received financial support from the Commonwealth of Virginia and Halifax County where the facility is located. The company also plans to invest more than $10 million in the expansion and modernization of its 50-year olf distribution transformer facility in Jefferson City, Missouri to provide additional capacity and enhance its manufacturing capabilities.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is incentivizing solar energy adoption, in addition to adding bonuses for use of domestic content, however, there are not enough American-made solar components to supply the rapid buildout. A recent report from Origami Solar and Wood Mackenzie says the IRA missed the mark by not incentivizing use of U.S. steel module frames, as the U.S. steel industry has the capacity and it would reduce our dependence on imports.

The recent report Energy security and the solar supply chain: The urgent case for onshoring, notes that a total of 138 GW of U.S. module manufacturing capacity has been announced since passage of the IRA, with plans to be operational by 2027.

While Wood Mackenzie expects only about 65 GW of module capacity to come online by 2027, it is still a huge increase from the 2023 U.S. module capacity of 13 GW and the 9 GW produced domestically before the IRA became law.

In the meantime, as new manufacturing facilities began full-scale production, the U.S. solar industry remains beholden to imports. China currently dominates the supply chain from critical minerals to solar cell and wafer production and solar panel assembly, which includes the commonly used aluminum frames.

While the U.S. is working toward building up its domestic module manufacturing, thanks for the IRA, the report says that a less well-known problem is U.S. dependence on aluminum module frames. The majority of these are currently imported from East and Southeast Asia, and the report notes that they are all made from carbon-intensive aluminum.

It should be noted that Origami Solar, based in Bend, Oregon, is a manufacturer of steel frames, which are said to lower cost and improve module performance. The company reports that the frames are made of “green” recycled steel, thereby reducing greenhouse gases by up to 93%, representing a reduction of 80 kg per module or 200 metric tons per MW.

The report advises that if the U.S. solar industry switched from aluminum to recycled steel frames, it would no longer be dependent on foreign imports because “the  massive, well-established U.S. steel industry is positioned to easily meet the demand of domestic manufacturers with a more reliable, durable, less carbon-intensive, and readily available product”.

According to Wood Mackenzie, the aluminum frame accounts for over 13% of the cost of a 555 W single-glass PERC module made in China.

The report states that the U.S. steel industry “is prepared to quickly supply affordable, reliable, and far lower carbon intensive frames,” and it points out that the IRA provides a domestic content adder for trackers and racking systems that use domestic iron and steel.

Securing steel fabrication to alleviate supply chain concerns and shipping volatility is an emerging trend in the tracker and racking space, and the report notes that the domestic steel industry’s partnership with tracker manufacturers has demonstrated its readiness to supply U.S. module producers. According to Wood Mackenzie, the proposed annual tracker manufacturing capacity in the U.S. is between 70 GW and 100 GW.

Nextracker, a U.S.-based tracker provider, recently reported that its NX Horizon utility-scale solar trackers are now available with up to 35% lower carbon footprint because it is using recycled steel produced in facilities strategically sited near the project sites,

Another tracker provider, Terrasmart, fabricates its own steel structures in house. Terrasmart President, Ed McKiernan told pv magazine USA that such an approach allows his company to switch up their operations “on a dime,” and to accommodate design and timeline changes for customers.

A recent report by the Solar Energy Manufacturing Association (SEMA) supports a switch from aluminum to steel frames for solar modules because it will decrease dependence on China and give the industry a domestically sourced solution.

To stick with aluminum frames means continued dependence on China, as the report notes that China commands nearly 60% of the global aluminum supply, with the U.S. producing just 2%.

In October of 2023 the U.S. Department of Commerce also announced the initiation of an antidumping duty and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) investigation into aluminum extrusions from several countries. The report states that it is alleged that the imported extrusions are purportedly 375% cheaper than their actual cost of production and that Chinese producers receive subsidies of 170%.

The report also points out the high cost of transporting aluminum frames from Asia—both in terms of dollars and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). It points to a recent report by Boundless Impact Research & Analytics that found that a domestically produced, 2 by 1 meter steel frame emits 90% fewer GHG than a foreign-produced aluminum module frame of the same size.

While some may consider using domestically produced aluminum for solar module frames, the report offers several reasons why that would be a challenge. It contends that aluminum production cannot meet the demand. For example, in 2023 the U.S. consumed 5.8 megatons of aluminum, yet produced only 0.915 megatons, according to the report. Scaling the industry to keep up with the solar market demands would be “expensive and time consuming,” the report says estimating that to meet the projected 50 GW of solar capacity expected in the U.S. by 2031, we’ll need 400,000 miles of frames.

In conclusion, the report makes the case that U.S. aluminum manufacturing cannot meet the needs of the U.S. solar industry, while the domestically sourced roll-formed steel industry can. Recent data from Wood Mackenzie shows the U.S. steel industry houses 143.62 megatons of crude steel capacity and produced 80 megatons of steel in 2023. Additionally, Wood Mackenzie indicates that the U.S. steel industry’s total capacity is forecast to grow by over 10% from 2021 to 2027.

The Biden Administration is expected to remove a trade exemption for bifacial solar modules imported to the United States, according to a report from Reuters. Once a niche technology, bifacial solar modules, which generate electricity from light shone on both sides of the panel, now represent about 98% of imports to the U.S., according to a petition signed by several solar manufacturers operating in the U.S.

In November of 2021, the U.S. Court of International Trade re-instated the exemption of bifacial solar modules from the Section 201 tariffs. The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) deemed it a win for the industry as it kept costs for imported modules low. Originally granted in June 2019, the exemption of bifacial modules was revoked by the Trump Administration in October 2020.

Now the bifacial exemption may be revoked once again, this time by the Biden Administration following a petition by QCells, which has a large manufacturing footprint in the United States. Reuters reported that, QCells, the solar division of Korean conglomerate Hanwha, sent the formal petition to the U.S. Trade Representative on Feb. 23 requesting the exemption to be revoked.

Last year, QCells announced it will invest more than $2.5  billion to expand its U.S. operations. This investment, considered the largest investment in U.S. solar to date, would make QCells the first company to establish a fully-integrated silicon-based solar supply chain in the U.S. In October 2023, the expansion of QCells’ solar module factory in Dalton, Georgia was complete, having added 2 GW of solar capacity, bringing the factory’s output to more than 5.1 GW.

According to an industry note from Roth Capital Partners, the bifacial exemption is likely to be revoked in May and go into effect in June. This would be an incremental positive for U.S. module manufacturer First Solar’s stock, which is trading higher during the time of this report.

First Solar and other manufacturers with a U.S. footprint may benefit from a potential new round of antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) tariffs, which Roth said could be filed as soon as April 25.

AD/CVD laws assess tariffs on goods that are found to be dodging import duties by dumping products in other countries before shipping them to the U.S. In the previous AD/CVD proceeding, four Southeastern Asian countries, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia, which were responsible for roughly 80% of the U.S. supply of solar components, were alleged as potentially harboring dumped products from China. Roth said that modules shipped from India may be included in the new AD/CVD round.

On a webinar held by Roth, Clean Energy Associates said the U.S. could see utility-scale module pricing to increase to about $0.40 to $.50 per watt as a result of AD/CVD enforcement. This is significantly higher than prices seen in late 2023, where module pricing dove to a record low of $0.13 per watt. Without a new AD/CVD case, U.S. prices for modules shipped from Southeast Asia may be about $0.20 per watt, said CEA.

CEA said that U.S. module transactions have slowed significantly as the industry waits to see what happens with tariffs in late April.

North American solar module manufacturer Heliene announced it has secured a 2 GW long-term module supply deal with Excelsior Energy Capital, a renewable energy infrastructure developer.

Multiple-millions of solar modules supplied in the deal will primarily be assembled at a Heliene factory in Mountain Iron, Minnesota.

Excelsior said that the new agreement “materially derisks supply of PV modules” of their projects. By procuring solar modules from a North American supplier, Excelsior can avoid the risks inherent with purchasing equipment that travels a 6,000 mile-plus global supply chain. Trade and tariff risks including enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act (UFLPA), and the threat of new emergent antidumping tariffs, coupled with the tax credit adder, are leading equipment procurers to consider North American supplier alternatives.

Heliene produces solar modules in Ontario, Canada, as well as Minnesota and Florida.

“Heliene is proud to formalize our supply arrangement with Excelsior as we continue building on a period of tremendous growth, both for our company and for the domestic solar industry as a whole,” said Martin Pochtaruk, chief executive officer at Heliene.

The 2 GW deal with Excelsior builds on a large purchase order from Boston-based community solar provider Nexamp, which signed a deal in August 2023 for 1.5 GW of modules. At the time, the transaction marked the single largest procurement deal for the community solar sector in U.S. history.

Heliene also announced expansions to its Minnesota facility in December 2023, adding 150 MW of capacity to the site. It has two manufacturing lines producing a combined annual 800 MW of solar modules. The upgrades also enable the company to produce TOPCon solar modules, which has rapidly emerged as a leading cell type in the global solar market. The company runs a 300 MW manufacturing line in Ontario and a 100 MW line in Riveria Beach, Florida.

Heliene produces modules for the residential, commercial and industrial, and utility-scale sectors. Its range of products include all-black modules for residential rooftops, and both monofacial and bifacial modules for the C&I and utility-scale markets. Heliene’s modules come with a 25-year linear performance guarantee and 15 to 25-year product warranties.

For many organizations, success comes as a result of balancing higher ideals with practical actions. Solar energy has always been held up as the ideal source of green, renewable energy and a way forward from our fossil fuel-reliant ways. It took a while for the practical side of things to catch up to that ideal—the technology was still improving and equipment was not cost-effective enough for wider adoption—but recent years have seen solar energy entering the conversation in a way that we’ve hoped it would for decades.

The production of solar energy equipment has cast shadows in recent years, though. There have been allegations that materials produced or mined with forced labor are often found in solar production supply chains. This is because the vast majority of polysilicon production, crucial to solar panel builds, comes from China. Much of China’s production of this material happens in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) region which is reportedly rife with modern slavery abuses.

Solar production isn’t the only industry that imports heavily from China and might find themselves bringing materials made by forced labor to U.S. shores—textiles and apparel shipments are also often in question, as the Xinjiang region produces an inordinate amount of the world’s cotton. To improve transparency and prevent materials made with forced labor from entering the country, the United States has implemented the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA).

UFLPA requirements

Solar energy equipment manufacturers are no strangers to complex, multi-step supply chains that can span countries. Unfortunately, the more complex a supply chain is, the more work needs to be done to stay compliant with UFLPA, which in essence is there to require that companies do not import any materials tied to forced labor in the XUAR.

It’s not enough to claim there’s no tie between a company’s polysilicon imports and forced labor, though—the UFLPA wouldn’t be very effective if that’s all it took to comply. On the contrary, the numbers the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) publishes on its own site show it being aggressively enforced, with nearly $2 billion in goods delayed between June 2022 and the end of 2023 alone as shipments were held for closer inspection. About half of those shipments were denied entry.

Solar companies importing key components for their production have to prove their shipments don’t trace their origins to forced labor and demonstrate their efforts to keep such materials from their shipments.

In practice, the UFLPA looks for a handful of things. Officials will want to see the origin of the materials in any shipment, so a clear audit trail that can be furnished in the form of invoices and detailed production processes is important for solar companies to have available. These companies should also seek to gain transparency into the organizational structure and affiliations of their suppliers and sub-suppliers.

Certain suppliers have clear red flags that appear when one digs into them, such as affiliation with any entity listed on the UFLPA Entity List. Catching those early will allow solar companies to divest from those risky suppliers quickly— again documenting the process wherein suppliers with ties to forced labor are removed from the supply chain will help with compliance. A thorough outline of due diligence procedures, stated goals around ethical sourcing, and any other related initiatives taken may be required by CBP officials.

Since many raw materials crucial to the production of panels are frequently brought over from China, and the non-Chinese supply of these materials is so low, forgoing Chinese-based imports overall is often not an option. Chinese materials are, at least for now, often a necessary component. The question then becomes how to enable the above capabilities to determine which Chinese suppliers utilize forced labor farther upstream, and would put any company importing from them in violation of the UFLPA, and which do not.

Meeting compliance requirements

Gathering, organizing, managing, and reporting such detailed information on suppliers is a significant challenge for any company. Solar production companies can tap into recent automation innovations within their third-party management processes to survey current suppliers (and their own suppliers) and monitor their entire supply chain for potential risks of UFLPA violation.

Underlying the UFLPA’s requirement for transparency is the need to access, store, and report crucial documentation. With large and complex supply chains, this requires a detailed supplier map to be built. Such a map can lay out the dependencies and connections between entities, which helps in laying out a path forward when a potential violation is uncovered. If a supplier is found to be sourcing materials from another supplier who has been flagged for violations in the past, an automated system could flag that company to supply chain managers and show all the parts of the supply chain that are at risk of a UFLPA violation as a result. Solar companies should be sure to build out escalation procedures and mitigation strategies for such a situation beforehand so that the options available to fix the situation are clear and actionable.

Automation can also routinely monitor the ownership structure of suppliers to track any changes that might bring a previously green-lit supplier into violation. Ownership structures and corporate relationships change all the time; manual review of every corner of a vast supply chain is impractical and costly.

Overenforcement by the CBP could still hit even the most compliant of companies and delay shipments—since half of the held shipments in the example period above were ultimately denied, that means the other half were fully compliant but still were held up for weeks or even longer. But clear documentation available up front might help a company keep their shipments out of a detainment scenario.

And of course, the benefits of staying compliant are well worth it. Beyond avoiding a situation wherein a company’s imports are held up or even refused, the companies that are demonstrating adherence to the UFLPA can more easily pivot to higher-margin markets thanks to transparency in their ethical sourcing practices. And of course, there’s the worldwide benefit of the entire industry being encouraged to source ethically and stop funding those utilizing forced labor. If we’re going to put an end to forced labor around the world, adhering as an industry to regulations like the UFLPA is one of the key steps toward doing so.

Toward a brighter tomorrow

Many other worldwide bodies are considering similar legislation to combat forced labor, and we’ve recently seen actions taken in the European Union with this goal in mind. The consensus seems to be that detailed regulations and careful enforcement are the way forward as we look to put forced labor behind us as a global society.

With the solar industry’s inherent forward-looking and ethical nature, there is the potential for solar companies to play a leading role in shaping yet another aspect of the future, beyond the push for clean and renewable energy. A sustainable world that does not make room for human rights abuses can serve as a model for how to move beyond such practices—the international collaboration required to fully root our forced labor in the solar industry could be replicated elsewhere, ushering in not just a brighter, but a more humane future for all.

Jag Lambda is the founder and CEO of Certa, a third-party lifecycle management platform for procurement, compliance, and ESG. Certa is backed by Techstars and top global VCs. A Wharton and McKinsey alum, Jag lives in California, and loves hiking and playing soccer with his son. 

As the clean energy buildout continues to grow, one of the challenges looming over the industry is shortages and price increases in the global transformer market. National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) researchers produced the report, Major Drivers of Long-Term Distribution Transformer Demand, in order to quantify the long-term demand for distribution transformers.

“Distribution transformers are a bedrock component of our energy infrastructure,” National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) researcher Killian McKenna said. “But utilities needing to add or replace them are currently facing high prices and long wait times due to supply chain shortages. This has the potential to affect energy accessibility, reliability, affordability—everything.”

Reasons given for the shortages and price spikes include increased raw material demand, pandemic-related shortages and backlogs, labor constraints, shipping issues, and geopolitical tensions. In some parts of the world, the shortages are acute.

Transformers are a necessary piece of the energy puzzle, as they manage the flow of electricity along the power grid by changing high-voltage electricity from transmission lines into low-voltage electricity before it reaches consumers.

“A lot of factors can drive the demand for transformers, which makes long-term forecasting especially challenging,” McKenna said. “For instance, load growth from electrification of buildings and transportation, increased frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events, and the need to modernize aging electrical infrastructure can all impact the future demand for transformers.”

The NREL team is the first to quantify the number, capacity, age, and use of the nation’s current transformer stock. This was no small feat, as the nation’s transformers are owned by over 3,000 municipal, cooperative, and investor-owned utilities. About 20% of transformer capacity is privately owned by large commercial and industrial customers, according to the report authors.

The study found that utilities are experiencing extended lead times for transformers of up to two years (a fourfold increase on pre-2022 lead times) and reporting price increases by as much as four to nine times in the past 3 years.

According to the researchers, the increased demand is due to increased electrification, increased clean energy going to the grid as well as an aging electric infrastructure that needs replacement. Preliminary analysis estimates that overall stock capacity needs to grow 160% to 260% by 2050, compared to 2021 levels to meet increasing energy demands across residential, commercial, industrial and transportation sectors.

The Code of Federal Regulations defines distribution transformers as those that have an input voltage of 34.5 kV or less, an output voltage of 600 V or less, and a capacity of 10–2,500 kVA. For this study the researchers examined transformers up to 5,000 kVA because of the trend of increasing capacities due to electrification and also because of pending revisions in proposed rules. The authors state that they “loosely interpret input and output voltages, given the trend of bidirectional power flow due to distributed energy resources (in particular, solar photovoltaics).”

They also consider step-up transformers, used for renewable energy resources and most battery chains, and manufacturers as distribution transformers. Step-up transformers are used to convert low-voltage electrical generation into high-voltage electricity for long-distance transmission. The demand for these will grow as they are needed to integrate wind and solar farms onto the power grid by adjusting voltages, improving efficiency, and enhancing grid reliability.

Overall, they expect the type of transformers utilities will require is expected to change. Larger transformer sizes will be needed and pad-mount, dry-type, and submersible transformer demand will also increase demand for larger transformer sizes is expected to increase due to electrification. Enhanced reliability and resilience will increase the demand for pad-mount, dry-type, and submersible transformers. As previously mentioned, step-up transformer demand will also increase—all of which will put increased pressure on transformer manufacturing.

The analysis is based on estimating the peak demand that would need to be met by distribution transformers, which considers the increased electricity demand across the economy from scenarios outlined in NREL’s Electrification Futures Study.

The insights gained from this work will help stakeholders better understand load metrics, including how an increased electrification scenario affects peak electricity demand, which will enable better distribution planning.

Seven trade groups, for example, have called for $1.2 billion in federal funding to help manufacturers of distribution transformers boost their production capacity, in a letter to U.S. Senate leadership. The letter states that “robust” domestic production of distribution transformers will help ensure a reliable U.S. grid, while also reducing dependence on importing products from overseas.

“The administration is focused on the importance of distribution transformers and other critical components to the reliability of our nation’s power grid,” said Gil Bindewald, principal deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Electricity. “We are grateful for the strong collaboration between all stakeholders that has occurred to-date and hopeful that this cutting-edge analysis will serve as a catalytical foundation to inform impactful solutions that ensure America can meet its emerging energy needs.”

The researchers concluded that demand modeling is critical to gaining a realistic understanding of future utility requirements. The NREL team said it will continue to work with the Office of Electricity and Office of Policy to refine their analysis to help the industry come to consensus on projected transformer demand.

When President Biden signed the sweeping Inflation Reduction Act into law in August 2022, the U.S. solar industry was given the green light for takeoff, and it has shattered records—adding 32.4 GW of new electric generating capacity last year, or 51% since 2022. According to the U.S. Solar Market Insight, Year-in-Review 2023 by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie, this is the first time in 80 years that a renewable electricity source has accounted for over 50% of annual capacity additions.

“If we stay the course with our federal clean energy policies, total solar deployment will quadruple over the next ten years,” said SEIA president and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper. “The Inflation Reduction Act is supercharging solar deployment and having a material impact on our economy, helping America’s solar module manufacturing base grow 89% in 2023. We must protect and optimize the policies that are driving these investments and creating jobs, and the stakes in the upcoming election couldn’t be higher.”

According to report estimates, total U.S. solar capacity is expected to grow to 673 GW by 2034, or enough to power more than 100 million homes.

With this growth comes some challenges including high interest rates, tax credit financing, U.S. supply chain, and interconnection. Coupled with uncertainty around the possibility of a new administration in 2025, the report includes high- and low-case forecast scenarios that show how policy and economic factors could impact the solar market over the next ten years, with a 200 GW difference two forecasts.

The Bull case is based on the possibility of overcoming many of the existing challenges, for example, interest rates decline and then stabilize, that more corporations become tax equity providers, that there are fewer supply chain restraints and that interconnection issues are resolved. The Bear case flips these assumptions, resulting in what report authors estimate could be a “200 GWdc swing in solar installations over the next decade based on various political and economic outcomes”.

“A high case for U.S. solar with increased supply chain stability, more tax credit financing, and lower interest rates would increase our outlook 17%,” said Michelle Davis, head of global solar at Wood Mackenzie and lead author of the report. “A low case with supply chain constraints, less tax credit financing, and static interest rates would decrease our outlook 24%. Various policy and economic outcomes will have big implications for the U.S. solar industry.”

Supply chain

One of the challenges of rapid growth in the U.S. solar industry is procuring domestic content and reducing reliance on imports from China and other countries. U.S. module manufacturing grew from 8.5 GW to 16.1 GW last year, and established manufacturers have bold plans for future growth. For example, First Solar produced a record 12.1 GW of solar modules, growing 33% over 2022 totals. By the end of 2026, the company expects to have 14 GW of U.S. solar capacity and 11 GW internationally, reaching 25 GW of global solar module production. Additionally, Qcells recently expanded its solar module factory in Dalton, Georgia where it added 2 GW of solar capacity, bringing the factory’s output to more than 5.1 GW. Canadian Solar set up a manufacturing facility in Texas and expect to produce 5 GW of TOPCon modules annually.

However, a few headwinds are facing module manufacturers hoping to set up shop in the U.S., including high interest rates coupled by record low prices for modules from overseas.

Market segments

According to the WoodMac SEIA report, every segment saw year-over-year growth in 2023, bringing total installed solar capacity in the U.S. to 177 GW. The utility-scale sector alone added 22.5 GW of new capacity. Despite challenges in the residential sector including changes in net energy metering (NEM) policy and high interest rates, nearly 800,000 Americans added solar to their homes.

Partly in response to cuts to NEM policies and partly to ensure resiliency, energy storage was added to 13% of residential installations and 5% of non-residential. That figure is expected to jump to 25% of new residential installations this year and will double to 10% of non-residential.

Leading states

Solar has been on an upswing across the nation, with more than half the states with 1 GW of total installed solar capacity. While California stood far ahead of the rest of the country in terms of installed solar capacity, Texas leads for the second time in the past three years with 6.5 GW of new solar installations with 6.5 GW. California’s residential solar market was woefully hurt by NEM changes, and the report authors project a  36% decline across all segments in the state. Colorado, Ohio and Wisconsin are rising stars in U.S. solar, entering the top 10 solar states in 2023.

Looking forward, the Year in Review report expects solar to nearly quadruple from 177 GWdc installed at year-end 2023, to 673 GWdc installed by 2034 and by 2040, it
is expected to make up the largest share of electric generating capacity in the US.