Policy & Regulation

‘Empty rhetoric:’ The solar industry’s public spat with Biden over tariffs

‘Empty rhetoric:’ The solar industry’s public spat with Biden over tariffs
September 14, 2021 - Joe Biden, President of the United States, speaks during a visit the Flatirons Campus of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Arvada, Colorado. The President received insight into NREL’s long-term research mission, vision, and critical objectives which directly align with his decarbonization goals and national energy priorities.(Photo by Werner Slocum / NREL).

Clean energy advocates are often aligned with Democratic lawmakers due to the party’s acknowledgment of the threats posed by climate change and the need to rapidly decarbonize.

But the U.S. Department of Commerce's decision to investigate a tariff petition brought by a small U.S. solar manufacturer has pitted the Biden administration against the broader industry.

Heather Zichal, CEO of the American Clean Power Association, who was previously a climate advisor to former President Obama, accused the Biden Administration of “empty rhetoric” for allowing the tariff petition to proceed while it also expressed support for the solar industry.

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Maggie Clark from the government relations team of utility-scale solar and energy storage developer Pine Gate Renewables called the Biden admin’s tariff investigation “an embarrassment to claims and goals of taking decarbonization seriously.”

And utility-scale developer, 8minute Solar Energy, said it is evaluating potential project delays and job impacts due to the petition, CEO Tom Buttgenbach told Renewable Energy World.

“What we know for certain is that this decision is frankly at odds with the Administration’s efforts to address climate change,” he said.

Both Pine Gate and 8minute are members of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), which strongly opposes the Auxin petition.

A container ship at the Port of Los Angeles. Credit: Flickr/Corey Seeman

The solar industry seemingly has shed much of its unwillingness to publicly criticize the Biden White House over the Auxin Solar tariff petition. The petition alleges that solar modules containing Chinese components are being assembled in Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia to circumvent U.S. trade duties.

Administration insider Jigar Shah aimed to tamp down the fears of the solar industry. Now serving as head of the Department of Energy Loan Programs Office, Shah has long been a respected advocate and source of clean energy deployment.

He argued in a recent tweet that tariffs “rarely” work to achieve their intended goals, but added that proposed legislation that incentivizes domestic solar manufacturing is the “only path” forward.

Shah urged solar supporters to “let out a primal scream, curse the system, and then get to work,” noting that he had consistently fought tariffs before joining DOE.

The Solar Energy Manufacturing for America Act (SEMA Act) passed in the House but hasn’t received a vote in the Senate, much like the ill-fated Build Back Better package.

The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) would provide credits of $0.07/watt for domestically manufactured solar panels, $0.11/watt for integrated modules, $0.04/watt for photovoltaic cells, $12/sq. meter for silicon wafers, and $3/kg for solar-grade polysilicon.

Earlier in March, the SEMA Coalition of domestic solar manufacturers sent a letter to Biden urging him to support the legislation. And Q CELLS parent company Hanwha announced planned to build a multi-billion dollar, "fully American" supply chain, but only if the SEMA Act is passed by Congress.

LG announced in February that it would end its solar business due to market "uncertainties," a blow to U.S. domestic solar manufacturing. (Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns/Flicker Creative Commons)

The broader U.S. solar industry generally supports the SEMA Act but concerns remain about the near-term impact of additional tariffs on imported solar modules.

It will take time to ramp up domestic manufacturing to support the demand for solar projects in the U.S., they argue, given domestic manufacturing is only around 7.5 GW per year. The Biden administration's own goal is to deploy 30 GW of solar per year through 2025.

LG, meanwhile, announced in February that it planned to end its solar business and shutter the company's 550 MW manufacturing facility in Alabama due to market "uncertainties." LG had been an advocate of the SEMA Act and an active member in the SEMA Coalition prior to the announcement.

The Solar Energy Industries Association said that the Auxin tariff petition could result in a 19% near-term decline in solar deployment forecasts.

Energy and climate policy experts say that solar's public split with the Biden admin showcases the economic and political maturity of the industry.

Joshua Basseches, a postdoctoral fellow at the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, said the industry's angst is heightened by the stalling of Build Back Better and the $550 billion included in it for clean energy.

"Solar is no longer the experiment it once was in the not-too-distant past," Basseches told Renewable Energy World. He said that Biden is seen as a friend to the renewable energy sector and as someone that the industry should work to not alienate. "But that does not mean he gets an automatic pass on every issue."