Section 201 tariffs relationship with solar energy 

In order to fully grasp how state of solar manufacturer came to be, its best to understand where they came from. There’s evidence that the failure of solar companies are due to the inability to compete with low-cost imports. These imports originated from China and later developed in other Asian nations.The U.S. module capacity is only around 20% of the projected  market. There are only two domestic solar cell and module makers with the capacity to produce more than 500 MW of modules yearly. 
 

Trump Administration's relationship with solar energy 
 
There are about 14 companies that make modules the U.S., but not cells. The U.S. only makes about 200 MW of modules annually, and all dependent on merchant cell supply. This imbalance between cell and module capacity came from the 2014 Department of Commerce ruling imposing antidumping duties (ADD) and countervailing duties (CVD) on products from China and Taiwan. The asian companies would source cells from other locations and assemble in the U.S. This would bypass the ADD/CVD. The limited modules have higher ASP with a higher price segment here. By contrast, building cell lines takes significantly longer and  more capital intensive, thus being more risky for a solar company to take on. 
 
The Trump Administration shockingly gave an exemption for 2.5 GW of cells yearly to ensure that module makers won’t pay tariffs on imported solar cells for at least the near future. This is a surprising shift for the entire cell and module production under the tariffs. Module makers with U.S. factories will enjoy a competitive edge against imports and won’t rely on a limited volume of tariff-free cells. The shortage of local supply chains to support cell production is another hindrance for the cell and module production race. Due to this,  U.S. module capacities will expand. 
 

State-level and local financially support
 
The availability of state-level and local policy support may finalize whether or not any particular factory gets built. Public support has been utilized in online U.S. cell and module production sites. Solar manufacturers will shop for locations based on  the best incentives. This encourages cities to generate big incentive packages to capture economic benefits of having more manufacturing at their location. For example, Jacksonville City Council  approved $23 million in incentives for a Solar company. This is only the first phase of a $54 million package that includes state grants for hiring veterans.
 
The Section 201 tariffs ended up helping expand U.S. module assembly. If you want to join the solar revolution, go to HahaSmart.com and try our price checker tool. You can see how much a system will cost, and how much you can save over the next 20 years. For more information about solar, don't forget to visit our solar blog section for guides and articles.