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This is a further twist of a stupid US policy. Solar panel manufacturers cried foul while China simply out-managed the US players on the supply chain, so the U

This is a further twist of a stupid US policy. Solar panel manufacturers cried foul while China simply out-managed the US players on the supply chain, so the US slapped tariffs on Chinese finished panels. China says, ok, so that's how you want it, and then they slap tariffs on cheap US-manufactured polysilicon. Most Americans (and sadly, most American politicians) don't know that up until recently those cheap Chinese solar panels started life as gravel, coal, and wood chips in America's rust belt. And jobs. Well, not anymore. South Korea, not near as foolish as the Obama administration, and not subject to the same high retaliatory tariffs, is now taking over the lead position in polysilicon. They didn't even say thanks. Let's tour a polysilicon plant near Moses Lake, WA. Whoops. Closed down a few years ago when they couldn't compete with other countries for China's voracious polysilicon appetite. Hemlock Semiconductor, once the largest polysilicon manufacturer in the world, is hemorrhaging jobs left and right in Michigan. Both Hemlock and Wacker announced huge new polysilicon plants in Tennessee, investing billions, then mothballing them before they hit production because Uncle Sam suckerpunched the US polysilicon industry by playing anticompetitive with the US solar panel industry. This made sense to an extent when the Democrats were in charge, because US solar panel factories were in blue voting areas and US polysilicon factories and suppliers were in red voting areas. Now it's simple pandering and incompetence. Be careful with labeling it "American manufacturing". We've lost our worldwide leadership position and while we may buy American more at home, the rest of the world is moving on without our dominance.

philipkglass 9y ago
I agree about 90%. The Wacker plant in Tennessee was actually completed and is currently operating, though. There is excess capacity for high-quality, low-cost polysilicon in the US to be soaked up if some more American wafer/cell facilities are developed (since the product can't go to China any more). And US based cell manufacturing may indeed grow; Tesla is one driver, and JinkoSolar might be the next in line: https://www.pv-magazine.com/2018/01/22/jinkosolar-looks-to-set-up-us-factories/ https://www.pv-magazine.com/2018/01/22/jinkosolar-looks-to-s... I have a little hope that this might also finally get Hanwha Q Cells and 1366 Technologies to launch a full-scale manufacturing partnership. I really like what 1366 has invented but if they wait years more to go industrial-scale they'll get their cost advantages erased by continued incremental improvements in traditional wafering. These tariffs are not going to make American solar manufacturing dominate the global solar market. It might end up like with foreign automobile trade wars in the 1980s -- factories owned by overseas companies, but actual manufacturing operations in the US. I'd prefer if we didn't go through several years of artificially elevated prices from these tariffs in the first place, but I think there's a decent chance it will actually lead to new American factories for cells and modules. Those plants will need to be bigger scale than past American facilities if they don't want to die as soon as the tariffs expire. Suniva's biggest problem IMO is that they were trying to manufacture in America at ~5% the scale of globally competitive manufacturers. They were unprofitable so they didn't scale up, and they didn't scale up because they were unprofitable.
TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago
> This made sense to an extent when the Democrats were in charge, because US solar panel factories were in blue voting areas and US polysilicon factories and suppliers were in red voting areas. Now it's simple pandering and incompetence. I don't follow. Don't both scenarios wreak of pandering and incompetence?

philipkglass 9y ago

I agree about 90%. The Wacker plant in Tennessee was actually completed and is currently operating, though. There is excess capacity for high-quality, low-cost polysilicon in the US to be soaked up if some more American wafer/cell facilities are developed (since the product can't go to China any more). And US based cell manufacturing may indeed grow; Tesla is one driver, and JinkoSolar might be the next in line: https://www.pv-magazine.com/2018/01/22/jinkosolar-looks-to-set-up-us-factories/ https://www.pv-magazine.com/2018/01/22/jinkosolar-looks-to-s... I have a little hope that this might also finally get Hanwha Q Cells and 1366 Technologies to launch a full-scale manufacturing partnership. I really like what 1366 has invented but if they wait years more to go industrial-scale they'll get their cost advantages erased by continued incremental improvements in traditional wafering. These tariffs are not going to make American solar manufacturing dominate the global solar market. It might end up like with foreign automobile trade wars in the 1980s -- factories owned by overseas companies, but actual manufacturing operations in the US. I'd prefer if we didn't go through several years of artificially elevated prices from these tariffs in the first place, but I think there's a decent chance it will actually lead to new American factories for cells and modules. Those plants will need to be bigger scale than past American facilities if they don't want to die as soon as the tariffs expire. Suniva's biggest problem IMO is that they were trying to manufacture in America at ~5% the scale of globally competitive manufacturers. They were unprofitable so they didn't scale up, and they didn't scale up because they were unprofitable.

TheSpiceIsLife 9y ago

> This made sense to an extent when the Democrats were in charge, because US solar panel factories were in blue voting areas and US polysilicon factories and suppliers were in red voting areas. Now it's simple pandering and incompetence. I don't follow. Don't both scenarios wreak of pandering and incompetence?