Regulation, Solar, Sourcing Renewables  -  May 14, 2018

Republicans request solar panel tariff exemption

Eight Republican Senators joined together to send a letter to the U.S. Trade Representative and other federal agencies calling for utility-scale solar panels to be exempt from tariffs.

A report in PV Magazine noted these Senators represent “strong solar states and a couple of aspirants.” The letter requested that “utility-scale’ 72 cell, 1500-V solar modules be exempted from the 30% Section 201 solar panel tariff.

The eight Republican U.S. Senators are Thom Tillis (NC), Dean Heller (NV), Jerry Moran (KS), Cory Gardner (CO), Lindsey Graham (SC), Richard Burr (NC), Pat Roberts (KS), and Tim Scott (SC). PV Magazine cites North Carolina and Nevada as “solar heavyweights, while Kansas is “really just getting started with solar.”

If this tariff were to be effectively rescinded for utility-scale customers the results could be significant in terms of total volume relative to the whole of the United States, explained PV Magazine, as the utility-scale sector bears the greatest consequences of the tariff. The letter noted that excluding these panels from the tariff "will preserve tens of thousands of existing solar manufacturing and development jobs, foster market expansion, and allow the U.S. to once again fairly compete in the global marketplace for energy production technologies."