My previous blog post highlighted the latest drama to upset the solar installation industry.
Good news for folks who want cost-effective solar installations: the Biden administration has paused the proposed implementation of tariffs on solar modules from Southeast Asian countries for a minimum of two years.
Knowing that tariffs will be imposed in 2 years is certainly better than not knowing, or having them imposed out of the blue.
Still, while there’s a case to be made for domestic module manufacturing, unfortunately, the existing tariffs (in place for the past decade) don’t seem to have led to its development, so it’s not clear why more tariffs would help.
Instead, Biden has invoked the Domestic Production Act to “rapidly expand American manufacturing of five critical clean energy technologies” – solar modules and related parts, building insulation, heat pumps, and other equipment and infrastructure components.
Who knows if it will work – but at least it’s not more of the same, and it allows clean energy developers to chart a course forward.
For Sungineer Solar, we are looking forward to stabilization of prices and inventory levels.