At a Senate hearing last month, Mark Widmar, CEO of First Solar, one of the companies that signed onto the petition filed Wednesday, warned lawmakers that “the U.S. solar manufacturing industry remains in a precarious position, despite the passage of the IRA.” Though the panels are not produced in China, the petitioners allege many are made in factories linked to Chinese-based companies that benefit from massive price supports.
Their petition was immediately opposed by major clean energy groups in the United States that represent the full spectrum of companies in the industry, and not just manufacturers. The backlog of solar panels stockpiled in U.S. warehouses is so large that it could fulfill a year and a half of demand, according to the IEA. The manufacturing firms that filed the petition say imports of panels into the United States last year exceeded installations by more than 25 gigawatts — roughly the amount of power produced by 25 large nuclear plants.
At a Senate hearing last month, Mark Widmar, CEO of First Solar, one of the companies that signed onto the petition filed Wednesday, warned lawmakers that “the U.S. solar manufacturing industry remains in a precarious position, despite the passage of the IRA.”