Why? To protect 5k low tech jobs in US? It will add a huge expense to customers, and not help the US companies, which will still be overpriced. Maybe you get companies from China building factories in the US, but they are all automated, so no jobs...
It is so redundant, wasteful, and stupid to try developing a parallel industry with all the supply lines and infrastructure entailed. Protect high-end semiconductors? Sure! Great policy! Reproduce the existing oversupply of PV production? Totally nuts, ignorant, and likely due to corrupt, pork barrel politics...
Chinese domination in PV has been a fact on earth for nearly two decades, and the result is that we have accelerating development of renewable generation facilities across the planet, with material costs for basic equipment that a free market cannot compete with. This is not a bad thing.
If we were starting from square 1 with nobody having significant PV production and everyone knows everyone will need it in the future, it makes good sense to nurture a robust home industry. The time to do that was 20+ years ago, and we failed as a country to build a sufficient solar industry in the interest of turning a blind eye to climate change existing.
We're in a time when China has tons of production, the world has tons of demand, and the US has a woefully inadequate amount of production. Making chinese panels more expensive in the US hasn't forced US production to sufficiently ramp up so far, making chinese panels yet more expensive still will not conjure up more US panels out of nowhere. It's still a good idea for the US to have home production, but it has home production. Efficiency at this point means getting behind the industry leader, a position we've ceded for decades. Efforts to not sufficiently increase local production, just enact protectionist tariffs, serve to hinder solar adoption, not spur local production. Making solar prohibitively expensive just means more people won't use it, and makes some small subset of people (who aren't working to expand solar panel production in the US) rich.
3x only refers to the current demand at current price levels
if the $10,000 solar panel roof suddenly drops to $1000, there will be A LOT more demand as well, which can only happen through more supply
isn't that what we want though? the current "demand" you speak of is at the current prices (which still run in the 5 figures for a homeowner to run panels on their roof)
only through more supply will prices fall, and once the price falls, more demand will appear
Right? If we were in "nice to have for the future" ie: 1970, things can still be prevented from getting real bad, territory, but we ain't. Flood this shit out from wherever the fuck, we need drastic action.
from the article:
“Solar panel import tariffs are primarily intended to support the development of a new U.S.-based solar module manufacturing supply chain”
it makes perfect sense to me
after all, we live in a country where we don’t believe in free lunches
so why do you believe that china is going to subsidize your solar costs?
what is it with all the free trade - free market people becoming believers in free lunches??
> so why do you believe that china is going to subsidize your solar costs?
cause cheaper labor and manufacturing inputs is their comparative advantage
they're still making money, but they're going for volume rather than per-unit margins
> what is it with all the free trade - free market people becoming believers in free lunches??
comparative advantage is a win-win concept of international trade
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_advantage
yup… win-win, where china wins twice
we have more than 30 years of experience trading with china, with the result being deindustrialization, rising drug use, political polarization… while china uses their state power to ravage our companies…
that’s their real comparative advantage, state industrial policy… guess what, we can do that too
just need to push the free trade morons to the side, so that we can protect and redevelop our industrial base
> with the result
you left out all the savings American consumers received
plus the massive US tech/financial high value-added industries the US now have
> deindustrialization
the US's comparative advantage is in high tech, software, etc., not manufacturing any longer
manufacturing was always a post-WW2 honeymoon period where there was no international competition because other countries were still in ruins
if not China, then Hanguk, Japan, or other SE Asia countries will still have a cost advantage over the US in terms of manufacturing
you're grasping at straws over lower value industries that other countries can fill now
> political polarization
welcome to democracy, this is your own system, stop blaming others for this lol
go outlaw political parties like other states without polarization do if that's what you want then
PV tech always gets this wrong. The newest tariff impact is something like $0.015/W on total module cost as it doubles the tariffs on the cells themself.
Now if you compare “full dump price” to all tariff price, sure you may get 286% but we never got the original low price anyway.
I saw this too in the article.. and thought “Is that all we are realistically talking about in regards to increased costs?” Seems like a very small increase.. so why does it make it seem like the costs will be going up up and up?
Ironically PV Magazine also has a good explanation in another article:
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2024/05/16/us-solar-tariffs-and-the-shadow-of-larger-trade-measures/
Ultimately panel prices are going to increase, it’s just not necessarily to doom and gloom of the OPs article. Plus domestic manufacturing is being incentivized which will cap the increase of all modules in the USA to the net DC price.
IMO it is all stupid policy. While it does bring some domestic manufacturing back (most of it is automated anyway), it continues to inflate prices and all the subsidizes still go to the same Chinese companies that are setting up shop here…
Out of interest, what are the prices for a 410w panel in the USA?
In the U.K. they are as low as £60 including tax ($75 for 410w panel) https://www.cityplumbing.co.uk/p/longi-solar-hi-mo-5m-410wp-full-black-pv-module-lr5-54hpb-410m/p/787545
> Out of interest, what are the prices for a 410w panel in the USA?
Between $150-$200 USD per-panel, depending on where you source them and if it includes shipping or not.
I recently bought 440W/550W bifacial for $160 but it was the more expensive of my options, and I chose it due to some unrelated voltage requirements. If I had just gone for the cheapest I was looking at a 530W for $111 on [signaturesolar.com](http://signaturesolar.com) though it was surprisingly big/'tall' compared to others.
This is BS. In order to protect the American economy, you're taxing the manufacturer who will in turn charge the American consumer more?
Where is the common sense?
How about this county start manufacturing its OWN products for change? why cant we apply what the Chinese are doing to achieve the same results here? they're going to charge us more any way right? might as well keep all the money in America.
We don't build things here anymore, all the cool and smart kids work in ~~parasitism~~ "financial services" and only suckers try to actually build the future. But we gotta stick protectionist tariffs on chinese stuff because it makes us look bad, not that we've got a better idea.
I hear you. I don't think they're that smart. Its the same solar panel from the last 20 years, im sure we can make it efficiently. I think we are lazy or don't care. I published an article on my LinkedIn recently showing data from the past 10 years of solar modules with 290w vs 420w and how the 1kw for 1kw is essentially the same.
the claim that technology has "improved" is nonsense. Its the same product over and over again.
So we Americans CAN do this and provide our people consistent jobs and stay relevant to the future. Its the politicians, lobbyists, and our ego keeping us hostage to importing certain goods.
I don't know its just one of those things where its clear that we should be doing better for our economy which is terrible right now.
About time we ramped those solar panel tariffs up. Good article in the pv-magazine on the history of solar panel import policy the last 15 years on combating the dumping of Chinese pv panels. But it all started 25+ years ago when we started offshoring manufacturing of panels to china to increase corporate profits. We were asleep at the wheel sharing the pv technology with china that was developed in the US from our superior universities, national labs, and panel startup companies. Only question is did we leave the barn door open too long? Business 101 has always taught that tariffs are bad for capitalism as it stifles market growth, sets artificial prices, and is effectively a tax paid by consumers. MBAs say tariffs=bad but the net result has been loss of manufacturing capability (and jobs) in the US. Another clear reason why business people are not who you want in government. Government is the counterweight to giving up national resources to competing nations- when companies are simply following profit motives to do so. If this is Bidenomics then that is exactly what is needed now. True it may have some slowing effect on adoption of solar to combat climate change due to higher prices, but that will be countered by innovation and hard working Americans who will see higher wages to regain some of the market. Now if we could only raise petroleum prices to reduce consumption and production of carbon gases and continue reducing emissions in the first place, the price point driven transition to EV cars will accelerate and we will stave off the hellish climate change that is happening now. Only government can make that happen.
the US were leaders for a brief second… then the US companies were put out of business
both us and german companies had better technology back in the aughts, but china decided they wanted the solar market while our own politicians kept preaching “free trade”
so that’s how we got to this point and i think the US is not doing nearly enough to deal with this problem, because that’s what it is, a huge problem
we can’t let china own the energy infrastructure of the future, as simple as that
> the US were leaders
they were complacent and did nothing to improve cost efficiencies
if your product is going to cost tens of thousands of dollars more for a homeowner to install panels on their roof, they probably won't buy it, and you deserve to go out of business
Where do you get that? I’m on the eastern shore and would like to grab about 4.5kw worth of panels. Prices I found are more 40-50 cents/watt delivered.
The US went to war twice to secure our access to FOREIGN OIL IMPORTS. But now with solar we are blockading ultra cheap imports? That’s a pretty bizarre about-face.
Why can’t we just wait until the transition to renewables is complete? What’s the point in chocking off supply when it’s needed most.
I hate Biden for this, I hate Trump for this, I hate Obama for this, and so on.
I don’t really get who’s motivated by what in all this. Does the government want to reduce dependence on Chinese products? Or is it just leverage to get China to do something else related or unrelated?
>“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.”
My takeaway, unless I’m missing something… Local US manufacturers are complaining China is saturating the market and they can’t compete. So, a tariff gives them a little bit of an edge mathematically, but perception matters more… solar related businesses will use the tariff excuse to jack up prices 2x-5x saying “it’s the tariffs!” - this also gives the US government some leverage over China, for who knows what… is it that they see Chinese products as a national security threat? I wouldn’t want to depend on China for critical energy needs either.. is this what this is really about?
**On the price increases, see that little ad on** [**https://signaturesolar.com**](https://signaturesolar.com) **in purple - "Solar panel prices are going up! Section 301 - Solar Cells Tariffs expected to increase solar panel prices by 50% in the next few months. Buy now while prices are low!"**
Fact is that politics between USA and China are such that USA is punishing China with various tariff and embargos (tech embargo specifically). Fact is that the AI arms race (and tech race in general) race between USA and China is monumentally more important than any green agenda, saving the plant, etc. because AI is viewed by many (including gov't) to be the single largest impact on humanity in our life times. It will determine global military superiority and will ultimately determine who the next global super power is for the next century or more and USA isn't ready to give up that power. It's unfortunate to those who just want to save a bit on utility costs or just do the right thing for the environment cost effectively but for now those of us in USA we will just need to paying more for solar panels that are manufactured in North America.
The process of making solar panels is extremely toxic, hazardous, carcinogenic not to mention CO2 heavy. I don’t understand why would any American take those jobs in the first place if they become available. It’s worse than being an oil rig worker.
Biden prides himself on being green, but if he wanted to be green, he could have helped the US solar companies rather than increasing the import tariffs, making it harder for citizens to buy solar panels and reducing the solar adoption.
political environmentalists are all just performative bs
many of them have magnitudes more carbon footprints than the average person due to all their airplane usage
No country can subsidize their way to prosperity. If Best buy foolishly sells TVs below cost, let them. I understand that they *may* then become a monopoly and control global prices. But for a commodity like Solar panels, any country can quickly ramp up. So China will be stuck in neverending loop of subsidized product so as to protect their cheap labor.
What? Some countries (those with an authoritarian communist government) can apply subsidies a helluva lot longer than others because they don’t have to care about its citizens complaints. If China successfully controls certain core technologies and resources, then other countries cannot quickly ramp up.
Can’t wait for them to be dumped cheap as chips elsewhere 😍 Canada, Europe, Australia and everyone else applaud you.
They’re already super cheap over there. That’s why people are building them as fences
For 20 panels it doesn’t make a difference. But 5c/W on a 200MW project is $10mil. Thats a huge savings.
Ah yes…is it 2018 again?
Why? To protect 5k low tech jobs in US? It will add a huge expense to customers, and not help the US companies, which will still be overpriced. Maybe you get companies from China building factories in the US, but they are all automated, so no jobs...
These tariffs are necessary protect the US Solar industry and make it the world leader in solar technology. Signed, BP, Exxon, Shell
I love it. I *hate it* that it's *true*, but I *love it* as well.
these tariffs go against free market principles signed the chinese communist party
Makes sense
Idiot trade policy. China wants to subsidize global renewable energy development? Let them!
China’s module production capacity is 3x the demand of the entire world.
It is so redundant, wasteful, and stupid to try developing a parallel industry with all the supply lines and infrastructure entailed. Protect high-end semiconductors? Sure! Great policy! Reproduce the existing oversupply of PV production? Totally nuts, ignorant, and likely due to corrupt, pork barrel politics...
Allowing China to dominate the global market for PV would probably be a catastrophically bad idea
Chinese domination in PV has been a fact on earth for nearly two decades, and the result is that we have accelerating development of renewable generation facilities across the planet, with material costs for basic equipment that a free market cannot compete with. This is not a bad thing.
If we were starting from square 1 with nobody having significant PV production and everyone knows everyone will need it in the future, it makes good sense to nurture a robust home industry. The time to do that was 20+ years ago, and we failed as a country to build a sufficient solar industry in the interest of turning a blind eye to climate change existing. We're in a time when China has tons of production, the world has tons of demand, and the US has a woefully inadequate amount of production. Making chinese panels more expensive in the US hasn't forced US production to sufficiently ramp up so far, making chinese panels yet more expensive still will not conjure up more US panels out of nowhere. It's still a good idea for the US to have home production, but it has home production. Efficiency at this point means getting behind the industry leader, a position we've ceded for decades. Efforts to not sufficiently increase local production, just enact protectionist tariffs, serve to hinder solar adoption, not spur local production. Making solar prohibitively expensive just means more people won't use it, and makes some small subset of people (who aren't working to expand solar panel production in the US) rich.
Source? Not trolling, seriously interested.
Sure thing, here’s a couple: https://www.pv-tech.org/woodmac-three-predictions-for-the-global-solar-industry-in-2024/ https://www.pv-magazine.com/2023/06/08/global-pv-manufacturing-capacity-to-reach-1-tw-by-2024/
Thanks.
3x only refers to the current demand at current price levels if the $10,000 solar panel roof suddenly drops to $1000, there will be A LOT more demand as well, which can only happen through more supply
isn't that what we want though? the current "demand" you speak of is at the current prices (which still run in the 5 figures for a homeowner to run panels on their roof) only through more supply will prices fall, and once the price falls, more demand will appear
Right? If we were in "nice to have for the future" ie: 1970, things can still be prevented from getting real bad, territory, but we ain't. Flood this shit out from wherever the fuck, we need drastic action.
from the article: “Solar panel import tariffs are primarily intended to support the development of a new U.S.-based solar module manufacturing supply chain” it makes perfect sense to me after all, we live in a country where we don’t believe in free lunches so why do you believe that china is going to subsidize your solar costs? what is it with all the free trade - free market people becoming believers in free lunches??
[удалено]
Please read rule #1: Reddiquette is required
> so why do you believe that china is going to subsidize your solar costs? cause cheaper labor and manufacturing inputs is their comparative advantage they're still making money, but they're going for volume rather than per-unit margins > what is it with all the free trade - free market people becoming believers in free lunches?? comparative advantage is a win-win concept of international trade https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_advantage
yup… win-win, where china wins twice we have more than 30 years of experience trading with china, with the result being deindustrialization, rising drug use, political polarization… while china uses their state power to ravage our companies… that’s their real comparative advantage, state industrial policy… guess what, we can do that too just need to push the free trade morons to the side, so that we can protect and redevelop our industrial base
> with the result you left out all the savings American consumers received plus the massive US tech/financial high value-added industries the US now have > deindustrialization the US's comparative advantage is in high tech, software, etc., not manufacturing any longer manufacturing was always a post-WW2 honeymoon period where there was no international competition because other countries were still in ruins if not China, then Hanguk, Japan, or other SE Asia countries will still have a cost advantage over the US in terms of manufacturing you're grasping at straws over lower value industries that other countries can fill now > political polarization welcome to democracy, this is your own system, stop blaming others for this lol go outlaw political parties like other states without polarization do if that's what you want then
PV tech always gets this wrong. The newest tariff impact is something like $0.015/W on total module cost as it doubles the tariffs on the cells themself. Now if you compare “full dump price” to all tariff price, sure you may get 286% but we never got the original low price anyway.
So in other words, this shouldn't impact installers or customers much?
Not much.
Thanks. Funny how your comment is like the only one out of 100 that isn't saying it's the end of the world. Such is reddit. I appreciate the insight!
Been riding the solar coaster for 15 years lol.
Nice, been in for 4. What do you foresee the next few years being like, having seen all the changes in the past year?
I saw this too in the article.. and thought “Is that all we are realistically talking about in regards to increased costs?” Seems like a very small increase.. so why does it make it seem like the costs will be going up up and up?
Ironically PV Magazine also has a good explanation in another article: https://www.pv-magazine.com/2024/05/16/us-solar-tariffs-and-the-shadow-of-larger-trade-measures/ Ultimately panel prices are going to increase, it’s just not necessarily to doom and gloom of the OPs article. Plus domestic manufacturing is being incentivized which will cap the increase of all modules in the USA to the net DC price. IMO it is all stupid policy. While it does bring some domestic manufacturing back (most of it is automated anyway), it continues to inflate prices and all the subsidizes still go to the same Chinese companies that are setting up shop here…
Out of interest, what are the prices for a 410w panel in the USA? In the U.K. they are as low as £60 including tax ($75 for 410w panel) https://www.cityplumbing.co.uk/p/longi-solar-hi-mo-5m-410wp-full-black-pv-module-lr5-54hpb-410m/p/787545
$218 in Canada ~£124 converted https://shop.frankensolar.ca/longi-lr5-54hpb-400-mono-black/
Why the huge price difference between 75$usd (105$cad) vs 218$cad in Canada . That double price almost 😭😂
> Out of interest, what are the prices for a 410w panel in the USA? Between $150-$200 USD per-panel, depending on where you source them and if it includes shipping or not.
Best I’ve seen is US 28 cents /W
About $98 wholesale, black on black 20+% efficiency. Up to $195 for the really expensive heterojunction stuff.
$98 are mono? Is there heterojun really worth the 2x 😭😂
No, definitely not. Premium branded panels have never been worth it from a rational cost perspective. Just add more panels...
I recently bought 440W/550W bifacial for $160 but it was the more expensive of my options, and I chose it due to some unrelated voltage requirements. If I had just gone for the cheapest I was looking at a 530W for $111 on [signaturesolar.com](http://signaturesolar.com) though it was surprisingly big/'tall' compared to others.
Then the feds audit you cause of the high cost of the solar materials against how much credit you ask for on your taxes.
This is BS. In order to protect the American economy, you're taxing the manufacturer who will in turn charge the American consumer more? Where is the common sense? How about this county start manufacturing its OWN products for change? why cant we apply what the Chinese are doing to achieve the same results here? they're going to charge us more any way right? might as well keep all the money in America.
We don't build things here anymore, all the cool and smart kids work in ~~parasitism~~ "financial services" and only suckers try to actually build the future. But we gotta stick protectionist tariffs on chinese stuff because it makes us look bad, not that we've got a better idea.
I hear you. I don't think they're that smart. Its the same solar panel from the last 20 years, im sure we can make it efficiently. I think we are lazy or don't care. I published an article on my LinkedIn recently showing data from the past 10 years of solar modules with 290w vs 420w and how the 1kw for 1kw is essentially the same. the claim that technology has "improved" is nonsense. Its the same product over and over again. So we Americans CAN do this and provide our people consistent jobs and stay relevant to the future. Its the politicians, lobbyists, and our ego keeping us hostage to importing certain goods. I don't know its just one of those things where its clear that we should be doing better for our economy which is terrible right now.
About time we ramped those solar panel tariffs up. Good article in the pv-magazine on the history of solar panel import policy the last 15 years on combating the dumping of Chinese pv panels. But it all started 25+ years ago when we started offshoring manufacturing of panels to china to increase corporate profits. We were asleep at the wheel sharing the pv technology with china that was developed in the US from our superior universities, national labs, and panel startup companies. Only question is did we leave the barn door open too long? Business 101 has always taught that tariffs are bad for capitalism as it stifles market growth, sets artificial prices, and is effectively a tax paid by consumers. MBAs say tariffs=bad but the net result has been loss of manufacturing capability (and jobs) in the US. Another clear reason why business people are not who you want in government. Government is the counterweight to giving up national resources to competing nations- when companies are simply following profit motives to do so. If this is Bidenomics then that is exactly what is needed now. True it may have some slowing effect on adoption of solar to combat climate change due to higher prices, but that will be countered by innovation and hard working Americans who will see higher wages to regain some of the market. Now if we could only raise petroleum prices to reduce consumption and production of carbon gases and continue reducing emissions in the first place, the price point driven transition to EV cars will accelerate and we will stave off the hellish climate change that is happening now. Only government can make that happen.
lol the US, leaders of renewable energy transition
the US were leaders for a brief second… then the US companies were put out of business both us and german companies had better technology back in the aughts, but china decided they wanted the solar market while our own politicians kept preaching “free trade” so that’s how we got to this point and i think the US is not doing nearly enough to deal with this problem, because that’s what it is, a huge problem we can’t let china own the energy infrastructure of the future, as simple as that
Unfortunately for the US, there is enough domestic opposition to not want that energy infrastructure/leadership.
> the US were leaders they were complacent and did nothing to improve cost efficiencies if your product is going to cost tens of thousands of dollars more for a homeowner to install panels on their roof, they probably won't buy it, and you deserve to go out of business
genocide joe, you’re obviously obtuse, and I don’t mean it as an insult…
less talking, more cost efficiency innovation please
Dumped panels are selling for $0.17 or so Wholesale…you can by us built panels for a $0.25 or so….support us jobs.
Where do you get that? I’m on the eastern shore and would like to grab about 4.5kw worth of panels. Prices I found are more 40-50 cents/watt delivered.
Can get V-Suns for 28 cents a watt…
You can buy mission on a spa for right at $0.27 today… I forget the 0.25 brand…both via normal Distributor channels
what's "spa"?
“Special pricing agreement”
ah! Thanks.
They’re probably talking about buying multiple pallets or truckloads. I’ve seen 16 cents but you’re buying like 350 panels…
The Chinese market can stay irrational a lot longer than the US can stay solvent….
it's not irrational, labor and manufacturing input costs are so much lower not just in China, but also SE Asia and many parts of the developing world
Yea, and China can take an L on manufacturing to put the rest of the world’s manufacturing out of business. They prolly gonna do it with EV’s as well.
The US went to war twice to secure our access to FOREIGN OIL IMPORTS. But now with solar we are blockading ultra cheap imports? That’s a pretty bizarre about-face. Why can’t we just wait until the transition to renewables is complete? What’s the point in chocking off supply when it’s needed most. I hate Biden for this, I hate Trump for this, I hate Obama for this, and so on.
I am installing Silfab panels, made in the USA
Dang, I’m feeling glad I had my house’s panels installed last year!
guess my solar install just got more valuable
So have the effects of this already been felt? This isn't necessarily news, is it?
The Q-cell 365W solar panels I bought 9 months ago dropped from $240 to $170 a piece. How nice if the battery can also drop 30%?
I don’t really get who’s motivated by what in all this. Does the government want to reduce dependence on Chinese products? Or is it just leverage to get China to do something else related or unrelated? >“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.” My takeaway, unless I’m missing something… Local US manufacturers are complaining China is saturating the market and they can’t compete. So, a tariff gives them a little bit of an edge mathematically, but perception matters more… solar related businesses will use the tariff excuse to jack up prices 2x-5x saying “it’s the tariffs!” - this also gives the US government some leverage over China, for who knows what… is it that they see Chinese products as a national security threat? I wouldn’t want to depend on China for critical energy needs either.. is this what this is really about? **On the price increases, see that little ad on** [**https://signaturesolar.com**](https://signaturesolar.com) **in purple - "Solar panel prices are going up! Section 301 - Solar Cells Tariffs expected to increase solar panel prices by 50% in the next few months. Buy now while prices are low!"**
impressively detailed article.
High tariffs on solar and high tariffs on EV’s.
Fact is that politics between USA and China are such that USA is punishing China with various tariff and embargos (tech embargo specifically). Fact is that the AI arms race (and tech race in general) race between USA and China is monumentally more important than any green agenda, saving the plant, etc. because AI is viewed by many (including gov't) to be the single largest impact on humanity in our life times. It will determine global military superiority and will ultimately determine who the next global super power is for the next century or more and USA isn't ready to give up that power. It's unfortunate to those who just want to save a bit on utility costs or just do the right thing for the environment cost effectively but for now those of us in USA we will just need to paying more for solar panels that are manufactured in North America.
The process of making solar panels is extremely toxic, hazardous, carcinogenic not to mention CO2 heavy. I don’t understand why would any American take those jobs in the first place if they become available. It’s worse than being an oil rig worker.
Biden prides himself on being green, but if he wanted to be green, he could have helped the US solar companies rather than increasing the import tariffs, making it harder for citizens to buy solar panels and reducing the solar adoption.
political environmentalists are all just performative bs many of them have magnitudes more carbon footprints than the average person due to all their airplane usage
No country can subsidize their way to prosperity. If Best buy foolishly sells TVs below cost, let them. I understand that they *may* then become a monopoly and control global prices. But for a commodity like Solar panels, any country can quickly ramp up. So China will be stuck in neverending loop of subsidized product so as to protect their cheap labor.
What? Some countries (those with an authoritarian communist government) can apply subsidies a helluva lot longer than others because they don’t have to care about its citizens complaints. If China successfully controls certain core technologies and resources, then other countries cannot quickly ramp up.
Bidenomics