US solar firms ink ‘Made in USA’ panel deal
Two minor solar manufacturers announced on Wednesday a collaboration to produce panels will allow their clients, US solar project developers, to benefit from a new profitable federal subsidy for domestically produced clean energy equipment, Reuters reported.
The Biden administration is praising the collaboration between Georgia’s Suniva and Canada’s Heliene as evidence that IRA subsidies are successfully promoting a US solar industry that can rival China.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen highlighted that 20 per cent of US solar manufacturing jobs were lost between 2016 and 2020, but the IRA tax credits are now changing the landscape. Suniva is even restarting a previously idled factory.
Under the three-year, $400-million deal, Suniva will supply cells to Heliene for assembly into panels. These panels will have the capacity to supply about 2 gigawatts of solar projects, enough to power approximately 350,000 homes.
Solar project builders using panels with American-made cells can claim a 10 per cent tax credit for using domestic content, in addition to a 30 per cent IRA tax credit for renewable energy facilities.
This bonus credit has been elusive due to the lack of a US supply of silicon-based solar cells, the industry’s predominant technology.
