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The US solar industry has a supply problem

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  The US solar industry has a supply problem Most of the world’s polysilicon is made in China, and the US solar industry is encouraging suppliers to increase production elsewhere. Solar companies argue that a less-concentrated supply chain will be more resilient, emit less carbon, and circumvent companies accused of using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The US and Indian governments recently added momentum to this endeavor, pledging billions of dollars to scale up domestic solar manufacturing and guarantee future access to clean energy. Some companies are already responding. Reliance Energy says it will spend $7.5 billion on a green energy manufacturing hub in India that will include polysilicon production. The other two companies that make polysilicon in the US—Hemlock Semiconductor and REC Silicon—are also ramping up production. Hemlock turned on idle capacity for solar-grade polysilicon at its plant in Michigan this summer, and REC Silicon plans t...
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Solar projects are on hold as U.S. investigates whether China is skirting trade rules

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  Solar projects are on hold as the U.S. investigates whether China is skirting trade rules Hundreds of large-scale solar power projects are on hold in the U.S. as the industry awaits the outcome of a federal investigation into   potential trade violations involving solar panels bought from Asian suppliers. Department of Commerce investigators hope to determine whether Chinese manufacturers are skirting longstanding U.S. duty rules on solar imports from China by funneling components through affiliates in four nearby countries — Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam — where panels are assembled for export to the U.S. The four countries at the heart of the investigation account for more than 80% of solar panel imports, according to the American Clean Power Association. The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), a Washington, D.C.-based trade group that opposes the investigation, said solar installation forecasts for 2022 and 2023 are down by 46% attri...
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Why Solar Industries India is seeing explosive growth

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  Why Solar Industries India is seeing explosive growth Satyanarayan Nuwal has accomplished many things in his long career, among them creating India’s largest maker of explosives (by revenue) and the first private supplier of explosives for warheads. He has also hit another milestone, as the 73 percent stake that he and his family hold in Solar Industries India, the company he founded in 1983, rose to be worth $1 billion. Solar Industries’ shares have been a strong performer on the Bombay Stock Exchange for the last five years, up fivefold to a recent price around ₹1,000. The company now sports a market capitalisation of $1.4 billion. The company also featured in Forbes Asia’s list of 200 Best Under A Billion companies in 2019 and previously in 2010. Solar sells its products in 51 countries and has four overseas factories in Nigeria, South Africa, Turkey and Zambia. Two more are expected to come online in Australia and Ghana. Over the past year, Solar’s shares have risen by 9 perc...
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