The industry continues to argue over the circumvention case. A key contention point is Commerce’s new “wafer-forward” ruling. Apparently, companies circumventing the tariffs last year were circumventing based on the new wafer-forward rules – they were under compliance based on previous cell-forward requirements, but the rules changed. So far, no other crystalline silicon solar panel manufacturer has come out in support of Auxin.
Latest global stats show solar is deploying rapidly: by the end of 2022, renewable generation capacity came to 3.4 terawatts, and solar led with 22% growth – or 192 GW – from 2021. Order of countries expanding in solar: China (by a large margin), US, India, Brazil, the Netherlands and Germany. Global solar capacity now exceeds 1,000 GW, compared to 100 GW ten years ago.
EVA and backsheet manufacturer Hanwha Advanced Materials Georgia (and a subsidiary of Hanwha Group) is investing $147 million in a new factory in Cartersville, Georgia. The facility will supply encapsulant materials to Qcells solar panels made in state. Hanwha joins H.B. Fuller as being the only ones to make EVA sheets in the US.
Biden released a 2024 budget request that includes $1 billion to explore fusion tech as a clean energy source and $905 million to create clean energy jobs in communities that used to depend on fossil fuels for employment. Additionally, it includes $52 billion to promote industrial decarbonization, $241 million to improve clean energy infrastructure and environmental permitting, and $75 million to enhance supply chains for clean technologies.
In the second of a nine part SunCast/SolarAcademy solar conversation, Ted Thomas, founder of Energized Strategies and former chair of the Arkansas Public Service Commission, discusses the potential benefits of using solar and energy storage systems for rural areas instead of relying on long transmission and distribution lines. Ted and Jon Bonanno also compare the differences between regulating electricity and natural gas, highlighting the lack of innovation in the gas industry and the importance of understanding the gas market when doing resource planning. The video is below.
In this fourth of nine excerpts from a SunCast/SolarAcademy solar conversation between solar industry veterans Jon Bonanno, Kerim Baran, and CEO of Caelux Scott Graybeal, Scott discusses Caelux’s business model and technology in detail. The video is below.