A latest report from the Photo voltaic Vitality Producers for America Coalition (SEMA) reveals that with stronger help within the early levels, US module producers would rely much less on imports from Chinese language-owned firms for supplies.
From pv journal USA
SEMA’s “Inflection Level: The State of U.S. PV Photo voltaic Manufacturing & What’s Subsequent” report shines a highlight on the necessity for coverage adjustments to additional help the US photo voltaic provide chain.
The US Inflation Discount Act (IRA) has motivated photo voltaic module producers to construct manufacturing amenities in the USA. Nevertheless, only a few factories are deliberate for the manufacturing of ingots, wafers and cells. This scarcity leaves US photo voltaic module makers beholden to imports, primarily from China.
“Because of the efforts of Congress and the Administration, with the Inflation Discount Act we’ve got a possibility to construct a sustainable, robust American provide chain for photo voltaic that may make certain our nation isn’t depending on China for this important vitality useful resource,” mentioned SEMA Coalition Govt Director Mike Carr. “This report reveals that if we truly need a clear vitality future on this nation, we would require a seamless whole-of-government effort that doesn’t permit our buying and selling adversaries to derail the reshoring effort.”
The report factors out that China is producing many of the polysilicon and wafers wanted to make photo voltaic modules, producing 99% of the world’s photo voltaic wafer and greater than 80% of the world’s polysilicon. PV manufacturing advisory Exawatt, now part of CRU Group, reported that the one notable ingot and wafer manufacturing hub exterior of China is in Southeast Asia, with a capability of 35 GW of wafer amenities, doubtlessly increasing to 45 GW by the top of 2024.
SEMA sees onshoring the complete photo voltaic provide chain as necessary for vitality safety and it retains the US photo voltaic business from affected by world provide chain disruptions, as skilled in the course of the top of the pandemic. Moreover, onshoring the complete provide chain brings jobs and ensures greater labor requirements are utilized, along with use of cleaner manufacturing strategies.
The IRA contains tax credit score adders for home content material; nonetheless, it additionally excludes the origin of polysilicon and wafers. The SEMA report requires policymakers to set “robust requirements for getting bonus tax credit for utilizing home content material and federal procurement in an effort to incentivize funding within the high-value, capital-intensive components of the provision chain corresponding to wafer and polysilicon manufacturing.” The report authors see the necessity to implement the Uyghur Pressured Labor Prevention Act and anti-dumping commerce legal guidelines, which they declare are crucial in an effort to stage the enjoying area for home producers.
Along with coverage adjustments and commerce regulation enforcement, SEMA recommends that the US authorities set an instance by insisting that any energy producers from which the federal government procures vitality from should buy photo voltaic modules with US-made parts.
“Photo voltaic producers in America are working effectively beneath their full potential as a result of the federal government is facilitating an over-reliance on China and failing to supply a stage enjoying area to assist gas funding and innovation,” mentioned Carr. “The CHIPS Act and the IRA have been game-changing within the instruments they supplied to the Administration, however they need to use the instruments to their full impact to interrupt China’s monopoly by onshoring your complete photo voltaic provide chain.”
The US photo voltaic provide chain is in its early levels with polysilicon amenities at the moment in Michigan, Tennessee, and Washington, which the SEMA report says may produce sufficient polysilicon to make about 20 GW of crystalline silicon merchandise every year. Nevertheless, the nation has few amenities to make ingots, wafer and cells.
“These manufacturing steps are probably the most capital intensive but among the many least incentivized by way of the provisions within the IRA,” the report notes.
With stronger help for the early levels of the method, US module producers could be much less depending on imports from Chinese language-owned firms for these supplies.
Alongside Qcells and Norsun, Convalt Vitality, that are manufacturing wafers in the USA, CubicPV and India’s Vikram Photo voltaic have introduced plans to arrange store within the nation. Whether or not the introduced factories will come to fruition or not is in query. Exawatt Head of PV Alex Barrows is skeptical.
“I believe we’ll get a bit [of ingot and wafer capacity] within the U.S. however nowhere close to what has been introduced,” mentioned Barrows. “Thirty-five gigawatts of capability by the top of 2026 has been introduced, however I might truly suspect it’s extra seemingly that 15 GW to twenty GW will likely be put in.”
Suniva is one firm that plans to start producing photo voltaic cells in its plant in Georgia, and Heliene simply signed a three-year contract with Suniva, with plans for made-in-America modules. Suniva is restarting a manufacturing facility it idled in 2017 when it declared chapter, claiming it couldn’t compete with low-cost photo voltaic imports. SolarWorld joined Suniva in submitting the Part 201 commerce petition that prompted the Trump administration to impose duties in 2018 on imported photo voltaic cells and panels for a interval of 4 years.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visited the Suniva manufacturing facility lately, becoming a member of the SEMA Coalition, which is asking the Biden administration to stage the enjoying area for the photo voltaic business by increasing the definition of what makes up home content material to incorporate the upstream supplies.
“We can not have a sustainable photo voltaic manufacturing sector on this nation till we break China’s monopoly on wafer provide, which provides cell producers no alternate options,” mentioned Carr. “As supposed by the congressional authors of the IRA in latest letters, Treasury ought to break this monopoly, and spur US wafer manufacturing by refining their steerage for the IRA’s home content material bonus. We hope they do it shortly.”
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