Making ultra low-carbon solar the global standard to decarbonize the PV industry’s supply chain
We need to transform the end-to-end global supply chain for solar to be a truly clean energy source, writes Michael Parr. He says this will take a strong signal from corporate buyers and policy makers.
First Solar signals interest in new U.S. supply of tellurium for its solar panel production
Mining group Rio Tinto said it will spend nearly $3 million on a facility in Utah to recover tellurium, a critical mineral used in solar panels.
Creating an alternative PV supply chain is no cakewalk
The SEIA in late 2020 launched a campaign against forced labor and said it was “strongly encouraging” member companies to adjust their supply chains by June. Here is what will likely happen.
Sunrise brief: Senate bill eyes $8bn in tax credits to boost clean energy jobs
Also on the rise: EDF Renewables signs a PPA for its Space City Solar project in Texas, Nextracker wins a supply order for a big South American project, and a polysilicon producer signs a three-year deal for 41,000 MT.
China’s cheap electricity crowds out foreign polysilicon
Imports from South Korea and the U.S. dwindled, year-on-year, ensuring Germany’s Wacker and the Malysian unit of Korean company OCI will supply the bulk of the world’s non-Chinese solar polysilicon this year.
‘The strategy is to go big.’ A conversation with SEIA’s Abigail Ross Hopper
In a wide-ranging interview, Ross Hopper discussed supply chain challenges, the hope for federal policy certainty, workforce diversity, and the need to act “with boldness and vision.”
Spare capacity exists to support a supply chain shift, industry group says
Michael Parr of the Ultra Low-Carbon Solar Alliance said that excess production capacity in the U.S. and EU could support a call for a supply chain shift.
Solar companies pledge to oppose forced labor in the supply chain
The pledge is part of an industry-wide effort led by the Solar Energy Industries Association that supports the development of a supply chain traceability protocol.
Pandemic-related uncertainty in the US solar industry — and the case for an ITC extension
Renewable energy industry officials are hopeful that a post-pandemic comeback is possible in 2021 but, “Supply chain issues haven’t played out yet,” said George Strobel of Monarch Capital.
Analyst expects recovery for PV and storage supply chains
Analyst Wood Mackenzie expects solar demand to decline but predicts the market will recover, with the prospects for the energy transition remaining intact.
