supply chain

From duties to tariffs to COVID-19 and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, a look at the supply chain issues threatening the solar module supply market.

Also on the rise: Steps that buyers can take to ensure quality module supply. New Jersey installed 4GW of solar in 2021. DOE develops strategies to solve clean energy supply chain issues. The report card is out–which states have the best policies? Aspen Power secures $120 million, 200MW of distributed and community solar. Speeding development of the first commercial lithium project in Arkansas. DHL tops its fleet trucks with solar.

Also on the rise: What PV installers need to know about fire safety. Experts discuss pricing, supply and demand in PV value chain. How the battery supply chain can bolster EV supply chain. Community solar launched by Lafayette Square and Invenergy. 8minute energy funding boost will grow its already large portfolio. Burns & McDonnell complete three lithium-ion battery energy storage systems in west Texas. And more.

Also on the rise: LBL report looks at compensating customers for grid-connected batteries. Supply chain problems that drove up costs of solar power equipment will ease in 2022. Efforts to retrieve lithium from geothermal brine increasing in popularity. Encore Renewable Energy, The Brattle Group, ACORE and others announced new hires.

Wood Mackenzie has predicted solar equipment cost increases will ease back after last year saw the average cost of solar electricity rise for the first time in the Asia-Pacific region.

Developers and contractors who have a long-term perspective and make calculated decisions about today’s multifaceted risks – from tariff uncertainty to COVID to supply chain issues to component compatibility – will ultimately be best positioned to succeed.

There is increasing pressure, globally, for companies to be held more accountable, particularly when it comes to sustainability and just working conditions, and this topic is only growing in importance. With this in mind, pv magazine’s UP Initiative spent Q2 2021 looking at what solar and energy storage companies could do to lead by positive example when it comes to the workers, often far removed, involved in the production of their products and services.

The use of phosphorene nanoribbons boosted the cell, putting it on par with traditional silicon cell output levels.

The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act would ban all imports from the Chinese region, unless the U.S. government determines the products were not made with forced labor. The region supplies 50% of the world’s polysilicon, an essential material in solar PV.

WoodMac Renewables & Power lowered their 2022 US solar capacity projection by 7.4 GW, to 22.2 GW, on supply chain pricing challenges. However, they project the Build Back Better bill could add 44 GW of capacity through 2026.