On Monday, U.S. President Biden announced that the number of solar cells that will be allowed to be imported duty-free will be more than doubled to help domestic photovoltaic module manufacturers.
According to the White House announcement released on Monday evening, the tariff quota for solar cells will increase from 5GW to 12.5GW, and the tariff is currently set at 14.25%.
In May of this year, the Biden administration said that if the import volume of photovoltaic cells approaches the 5GW level, it will consider raising the quota.
In short, previously only 5GW of low-tariff solar cells were allowed to be imported, but now up to 12.5GW can be imported, which is 1.5 times higher.
Due to insufficient battery production capacity
The market believes that Biden's revision of import restrictions may be due to the mismatch between the domestic photovoltaic cell production capacity and module production capacity in the United States.
Due to the strict restrictions on the import of photovoltaic modules in the United States, local components are in short supply, so a large number of companies that go to the United States to build factories have chosen component production. However, with the continuous commissioning of component production capacity, the supply of local batteries has begun to fail. With the continuous commissioning of new component factories in the United States, batteries are increasingly in short supply, resulting in a continuous increase in battery imports.
At present, in the second half of the year, the capacity of US components is about to be released collectively. For example, in the past two years, many Chinese photovoltaic leaders have built a large number of component factories in the United States, most of which will be put into production before the end of this year, and the battery supply of these component factories is mostly imported. Therefore, it is expected that the demand for solar cells in the United States will also usher in a sharp increase in the second half of the year.
Several Chinese module leaders are going to the United States to build factories
According to a report in July, by 2025, Chinese companies will have at least 20GW of annual solar module production capacity in the United States, enough to serve about half of the US market.
At the same time, considering the collective release of module production capacity and concerns about insufficient battery supply, many Chinese companies have begun to deploy battery production capacity while going to the United States to build factories.
For example, Longi Green Energy has established a 5GW photovoltaic module factory in a joint venture with US clean energy developer Invenergy, which is expected to be put into production at the end of this year. The company also plans to build a photovoltaic cell factory in the United States.
Trina Solar also plans to build a new 5GW photovoltaic module factory in Texas this year, which will start production this year. It is understood that Trina Solar has a history of supplying photovoltaic modules to the US market for nearly 20 years. It is also planning a battery factory to supply the module factory in Texas and is in the final stage of factory site selection.
JinkoSolar opened a 400MW photovoltaic module factory in Jacksonville, Florida in 2018. The company announced plans last year to invest $52 million to triple the capacity of its U.S. site by the end of 2026, and held an expansion ceremony in April, where company executives announced that the plant would soon employ 600 people.
JA Solar said last year it would spend $60 million to build a 2GW solar panel plant in Phoenix, Arizona, which is expected to create more than 600 jobs and start production this year.
Source：solarzoom
