Major solar panel plant opens in US amid backdrop of industry worries about low-priced Asian imports

Article content material

A South Korean firm has begun manufacturing at an enormous new photo voltaic panel manufacturing unit in Georgia at the same time as business leaders say surging Asian imports might dampen efforts to make extra photo voltaic parts in the US.

Qcells, a unit of South Korea’s Hanwha Group, mentioned Wednesday that it could possibly now prove sufficient photo voltaic panels to generate 5.1 gigawatts of energy yearly at a two-factory complicated within the northwest Georgia metropolis of Dalton. That’s virtually 40% of U.S. photo voltaic panel capability, in accordance with figures from the Photo voltaic Vitality Industries Affiliation.

Article content material

Article content material

Qcells’ opened its first manufacturing unit in 2019 and an excellent bigger plant in phases since, what the corporate describes as the most important photo voltaic funding in American historical past.

“It’s one other milestone as we as an organization actually attempt to develop into a worldwide chief and a U.S. chief in photo voltaic manufacturing,” mentioned Scott Moskowitz, Qcells head of market technique and public affairs, talking with The Related Press after a plant tour Monday.

The corporate says its new plant is the primary photo voltaic module manufacturing unit within the U.S. to start manufacturing since passage of President Joe Biden’s signature local weather laws. Qcells’ $208 million funding once more reveals how federal incentives are spurring a nationwide increase in renewable power and electrical automobiles.

Business jitters a couple of flood of low-cost photo voltaic panels from abroad present how depending on federal coverage the photo voltaic business stays. That’s a menace partially as a result of former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination, is hostile to renewable power.

Qcells leaders say the brand new plant showcases extra environment friendly gear and processes, a part of a a lot bigger funding meant to carry key steps in photo voltaic manufacturing to the U.S. A photo voltaic panel, or module, is assembled from photo voltaic cells mostly made out of wafers minimize from ingots of polysilicon.

Article content material

Article content material

In the present day, the corporate’s photo voltaic cells are imported from Asia. However 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of Dalton in Cartersville, Qcells is constructing a $2.3 billion complicated to take polysilicon refined in Washington state and make ingots, wafers and photo voltaic cells — along with 3.3 gigawatts of photo voltaic modules. That plant is scheduled to open in phases beginning subsequent 12 months.

At present, no silicon ingots or wafers are made within the U.S. However Biden’s Inflation Discount Act, in addition to providing a additional tax credit score on American-made photo voltaic gear, lets producers earn incentives for each unit of polysilicon they refine and each wafer, cell and module they make. For instance, Qcells earns a tax credit score of seven cents per watt for each panel it makes in Dalton, or $34.30 for each 490-watt residential panel made.

Even with that enhance, photo voltaic business leaders warn, factories will wrestle to compete with a brand new spike in low-cost Asian imports. They’re once more urging federal officers to analyze whether or not photo voltaic panels are being dumped at unfairly low costs. Earlier investigations have led to anti-dumping tariffs on panels made in China and Taiwan.

Article content material

U.S. officers shouldn’t regard the spike as a standard market fluctuation, mentioned Mike Carr, government director of the Photo voltaic Vitality Producers for America Coalition, a bunch that features Qcells. He argues Chinese language part makers are pushing out low-cost modules from southeast Asian factories, tanking panel costs to make sure Chinese language dominance and smother U.S. manufacturing.

“That is prone to be the No. 1 new power supply within the twenty first century,” Carr mentioned. “It’s already cheaper than just about anything to put in. It’s the path to assembly our local weather objectives. So I believe it turns into an actual nationwide safety form of concern. The best way OPEC is in oil markets, we don’t wish to permit China to develop into that very same controller of provide in photo voltaic.”

Qcells sees present low costs as a “near-term problem” in attaining economies of scale and serving a long-term market, Moskowitz mentioned. Past commerce coverage, he mentioned, requiring federal companies to purchase American-made merchandise and selling panels produced with fewer carbon emissions might bolster Qcells.

Politics envelops the photo voltaic business. Vice President Kamala Harris visited the plant earlier this 12 months. On the state degree, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp has wrestled with Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff over political credit score for electrical automobile and renewable power investments flowing to Georgia.

Article content material

“Out of all of the locations Qcells might have gone, they selected to function and develop right here in Georgia due to our unequalled property and the aggressive package deal we put collectively,” Kemp mentioned in a press release.

Ossoff and fellow Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock word they authored the part incentives that profit Qcells, emphasizing federal coverage.

“Our state is rising because the superior power capital of the nation, due to federal infrastructure and manufacturing insurance policies which might be benefiting Georgia greater than some other state,” Ossoff mentioned in a press release.

Qcells, for its half, praises each state and federal help.

“To construct these markets up and to have them work, you want a complete authorities method,” Moskowitz mentioned.

Article content material