Tag: solar panels

One U.S. Solar Company Poised to Rake in $11 Billion in Subsidies

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U.S.-based solar panel manufacturer First Solar may receive up to $11 billion in subsidies from the government thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), according to The Wall Street Journal.

The company expects to receive up to $710 million in subsidies this year alone, which is an amount equivalent to nearly 90% of its predicted operating profit for this year, according to the WSJ. Philip Shen, managing partner at investment bank Roth Capital Partners, estimates that the IRA may end up giving First Solar up to $11 billion in subsidies over the course of the next decade.

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Proposal Argues Brownfields Better for Solar than Farmland

The Center Square

The growth of solar generation in Pennsylvania over the last decade owes largely to farmers willing to share their land, a fact that leaves others worried about neighboring property values and future sustainability.

As such, Sen. Doug Mastriano – former gubernatorial candidate and right-wing firebrand who represents a district that spans Franklin and Adams counties – recently introduced a bill limiting the use of farmland for solar development in Pennsylvania. The legislation would prohibit development on prime farming land considered class one or class two by the USDA.

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Biden Admin to Shell Out Billions Putting Solar Panels on Low-Income Housing

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The Biden administration will announce nearly $5 billion in grants and loans to support landowners’ ability to retrofit low-income housing with green technology like solar panels, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

The funding will be broken into $837.5 million in grants and $4 billion in loans to implement the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program, a provision of President Joe Biden’s signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), according to the Post. While the IRA already offers tax breaks for making the switch from fossil-fuel-powered appliances to green tech — for example, offering $2,000 to install an electric heat pump — the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) program seeks to address the lack of time and resources that low-income Americans may have to take advantage of them.

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Commentary: More Mining at Home Is a Win-Win for Environment and Defense

RealClearWire

This week, the U.S. Senate Energy Committee is examining the feasibility of building domestic supply chains for crucial minerals. The U.S. is currently completely dependent on imports of rare earth elements (REEs) that will determine whether the Biden Administration’s environmental and electrification goals are met. REEs also are used in essential defense systems like fighter jet engines, missile guidance and defense systems, and secure communication networks. Regardless if you are a champion of environmental protection or a strong national defense, bringing crucial supply chains to the U.S. will result in less emissions, higher environmental standards, and more control over materials that are the key to a greener and more secure future.

Green technology that underpins solar panels, wind turbines, and the lithium-ion batteries that store energy all require REEs. Neodymium, cobalt, copper, and lithium are all used in electrical vehicles, and those minerals are just a few of the 17 key minerals that the U.S. is completely dependent on imports for, and they’re a fraction of 29 other minerals that the U.S. imports half its domestic needs.

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Biden Loosens Trump Tariffs on Solar Panels Despite Labor Unions’ Pleas

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President Joe Biden loosened tariffs placed on solar panel imports by the Trump administration Friday, paving the way for Chinese companies to produce more panels for American consumers.

Biden issued a proclamation Friday morning, increasing the tariff-rate quota on solar equipment, or the amount of solar panel components Chinese manufacturers can send to the U.S. before receiving a penalty. The action means Chinese solar cell makers may send up to 5 gigawatts (GW) of capacity, double the previous amount of 2.5 GW, to the U.S. before being hit with a levy.

The White House action also exempts bifacial solar panels, or panels that absorb sunlight from both sides. Such panels, which are increasingly common, are often used in industry-scale projects and are believed to be the “future of the industry.”

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Solar Panels Produce Tons of Toxic Waste – Literally

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Solar panels have been heralded as the alternative to fossil fuels for decades. Most readers have likely seen exciting headlines claiming we could power the world’s energy demands multiple times were we simply to cover the Sahara Desert with a solar farm the size of China. The fact that such endeavors would be unsustainable due to their size and the sheer amount of maintenance required or that the necessary infrastructure to bring this energy all around the world is simply unimaginable is irrelevant to those who dream of a solar future.

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Commentary: America’s True Cost to ‘Go Solar’

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by Edward Ring   Proponents of renewable energy claim that wind and solar energy is now cheaper than fossil fuels. According to USA Today, “Renewables close in on fossil fuels, challenging on price.” A Forbes headline agrees: “Renewable Energy Will Be Consistently Cheaper Than Fossil Fuels.” The “expert” websites agree: “Renewable Electricity Levelized Cost Of Energy Already Cheaper,” asserts “energyinnovation.org.” They’re all wrong. Renewable energy is getting cheaper every year, but it is a long way from competing with natural gas, coal, or even nuclear power, if nuclear power weren’t drowning in lawsuits and regulatory obstructions. With both wind and solar energy, the cost not only of the solar panels and wind turbines has to be accounted for, but also of inverters, grid upgrades, and storage assets necessary to balance out the intermittent power. Taking all variables into account, what might it cost for the entire U.S. to get 100 percent of its energy from solar energy? Speaking the Language of Energy and Electricity According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the United States in 2017 consumed 97.7 quadrillion BTUs of energy. BTUs, or British Thermal Units, are often used by economists to measure energy. One BTU is the energy…

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New Jersey Solar Industry at Risk of Collapse as Subsidies Begin to Roll Back

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by Jason Hopkins   New Jersey’s solar industry is expected to plummet unless imminent action by regulators is taken, allowing subsidies to continue propping up solar installation sales. The New Jersey solar market has grown steadily in recent years. With over 99,000 solar installations in place and around 7,000 employees currently working in the field, the state is ranked seventh in the U.S. for its solar development. Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy hopes to see the industry grow even further and signed legislation in May that calls for the state’s renewable portfolio standard to reach 50 percent by 2030. However, advocates warn the state’s solar industry is on track for total collapse. “[W]e’re afraid that the market will crash again,” Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, said in a statement on Oct. 17. “If we don’t move forward, we’ll lose more jobs and more opportunities for clean energy. We must work to become a leader once more in solar power.” The concern comes as the subsidies that have helped propel solar installation sales in the state are due to wind down. New Jersey’s Solar Renewable Energy Credit (SREC) program currently incentivizes solar investment by giving panel owners credits for the electricity…

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US Solar Projects Surging After Trump Tariffs

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by Jason Hopkins   Despite apocalyptic warnings from trade experts, the U.S. solar industry has experienced rapid growth since President Donald Trump enacted tariffs on foreign-made solar panels. When Trump fist announced in January that his administration would impose levies on solar panel imports, leaders in the industry predicted doom and gloom. Many critics offered fiery public condemnation of the move. “It boggles my mind that this president — any president, really — would voluntarily choose to damage one of the fastest-growing segments of our economy,” Tony Clifford, chief development officer for Standard Solar, stated at the time. “This decision is misguided and denies the reality that bankrupt foreign companies will be the beneficiaries of an American taxpayer bailout.” Clifford was far from alone in believing tariffs on foreign solar modules would stunt growth. The Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA), a major trade group in the country, predicted the Trump tariffs would result in 23,000 project managers, engineers and installers losing their jobs. The SEIA believed one-third of the 260,000 U.S. workers in the solar industry would also be at risk of unemployment in the long term. The tariffs — requested by Suniva and SolarWorld, two American companies hit hard by foreign…

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