The production of solar energy in the United States currently supports 75,400 jobs in 90 facilities, $ 5.9 billion in profit and $ 11.5 billion in GDP, according to to a recent report Through the American Clean Power Association. However, it was not always the case. An attempt to start the American solar industry in the coast of solar energy in 2018 during the first Trump administration with the 201 Trade rates section.
These rates encouraged the construction of solar production in the United States, with first solar and qcells that contribute to the production capacity of the module, and others, such as Talon PV, who enter the market to make solar cells that fill a critical opening in the inland supply chain.
Qcells has embraced the challenge to expand almost the entire solar supply chain on American soil. In a recent press conference, Scott Moskowitz, Vice -President Market Strategy and Industrial Affairs at Qcells said that the company is building the only factory in Noord -America that “will build all the important inputs for solar panels, namely INGOTS, Waffels and cells.” The company has invested more than $ 3 billion in the ongoing of the Supply Chain, he said, discussing the irony of the version of the Senate Finer Finnerships Committee of one big beautiful bill that “immediately undermines the US economy again.”
Moskowitz said: “If [the Senate doesn’t] Do it well, it will be a huge blow to the production of solar energy and may lose the sector back to China. “
Until the solar rates were introduced, China was the most important supplier of the entire solar supply chain, but the tide started to run. Michael Carr, executive director of Solar Manufacturers for America (SEMA) Coalition, noted that China has no advantage in the production of solar panels “except the non -disposal dedication of the government to dominate production in that space.”
SEMA started working with members of the congress and members of the solar industry in 2020, which led to the domestic content bonus associated with the production tax credit and production tax credit. “These have been enormously successful and stimulate billions in investments and thousands of jobs,” he said.
It takes time to set up production facilities and even longer to rise to full production. Many of the production investments that have been made in recent years are now just coming online or come online the following year, Moskowitz said. “Many of these deliver projects that we assume are assuming that tax stimuli are now at risk,” he added.
Talon PV is building a production facility in Houston, Texas, where it is planning to produce 4 GW cells. Solar cells are a critical and much needed stage of the domestic supply chain, because the US currently has 35 operational module facilities and only three cell plants that are active.
Adam Tesanovich CEO and co-founder of Talon PV emphasized the importance of tax credits to support the continuous construction of these plants. “A lot of work has been done and we are on the point of having a real domestic supply chain,” he said.
Talon is the production facility estimating with non-Chinese equipment, Tesanovich said, and is planning to hire more than 1,000 people in the Houston region.
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has created a huge demand for domestic content, but he said, “This 48th cliff is in danger.” He added that “that question actually returns to the Chinese exporters.”
The original iteration of the 48th investment tax credit for solar and wind energy projects in the IRA covers 30% of the installed system costs. In the proposal of the Senate Finance Committee, the credit is reduced by the end of 2026 to 60% of its value, 20% of its value by the end of 2027, and all projects that start by 2028 are not eligible for the credit. A reduction in credit would jeopardize installations and would not only slow down growth in the production of clean energy, but also in domestic production.
“The production of clean energy has done almost all production growth in the United States in the last five years.” Said Moskowitz. “This bill would get stuck that growth. Solar is the leading form of energy that is added every year, and not because it is clean and renewable, but because it is cheap and reliable.”
Why subsidies?
Solar has taken its place as an important part of the energy mix in the United States, but it is not yet an adult market such as gas, coal and oil. Nevertheless, the fossil fuel markets received subsidies, of which Carr said “for understandable reasons.” He said that he is sure that there are legislators who would say that to compete in the international arena: “We must ensure that our fundamental energy sources remain cheap and that helps our production competitive capacity and the like.”
The 48th tax credit with the domestic content bonus achieves that, said Carr. “At a fundamental level, the 48th tax credit with the domestic content bonus can be retained the energy costs for consumers.” He said that what these credits do is the playing field, so that domestic manufacturers “can come back in this game and pay off the factories that they have invested against these credits again, in good faith.”
Ultimately, what solar manufacturers are looking for is not a long-term extension of the tax credits, but to reduce the severity of the cutbacks. “This is not a matter of a new score, it is what the house account proposes to take away. And now the Senate bill does not give back what we had counted on.”
What has changed in the last ten years, Moskowitz said, is an urge to reduce our dependence on imported products to meet the growing demand. “In the following decade with the AI revolution underway, we must add as much clean energy as possible to the grid if we can do as quickly as possible.” Solar offers the big advantage that it is fast to use compared to other energy sources. Moskowitz said it takes about ten years to add nuclear or natural gas, while residential or commercial solar energy can be used within a few months; Utility Scale for a year or two.
On the “abyss” of a revolution of solar panels on a scale that can support all domestic demand, Tesanovich noted. He warned that the proposed bill of the Senate Finance Committee would give this production back to China. Instead, the industry needs time, but “we don’t ask forever,” he said. It takes about a year and a half to set up a module factory, about 3 years for cells and a little more for Ingot and Wafer, he said. With millions invested in these plants, he said, “We need honest policy.”
The proposed language changes the rules in the middle of the game after a lot has been invested, according to Carr. He said they are looking for the “bottom line” of what is absolutely necessary to keep those factories open. The passage of the proposed changes of the Senate Financing Committee would lead to contraction in the fast -growing industry because, as Carr, “people have made substantial investments against the assumption of these credits that are there,” and he said that some will not survive and “there will be communities that are deeply affected.”
“We try to match the rhetoric with reality,” Carr.
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