Ethan Zindler of BloombergNEF discusses the tariff circumvention inquiry regarding solar imports from Southeast Asia into the United States.
Opinion
Zindler: Subsidized US solar manufacturing is not guaranteed to beat Southeast Asia
“I don't think it's by any means a slam dunk that the U.S. Will be the lowest cost, you know, will, you know, it will fight to be competitive with Southeast Asian nations to produce this stuff. Even with these subsidies, I don't know that that's for certain tha…”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Zindler: Grid interconnection, not price, will be solar's primary constraint
“It's whether you can get interconnection and get onto the grid. That is the, that is going to be really the limiting factor going forward. So all these other things are really cool, but like, you can add them, you can stack them, you can get a lot of benefit, …”
Opinion
Zindler: First Solar is very well positioned for IRA manufacturing credits
“First Solar, obviously, as a U.S.-based company, is the one that Sort of licking its lips here, looking at these benefits because they are integrated. You know, they obviously have overseas production too, but they've got a lot, you know, a lot on U.S. Soil, y…”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Zindler: US will likely need to import skilled solar engineering talent
“Actually, when we talk about imports, like, we're probably going to have to import more, you know you know, very, very well-skilled and engineered folks you know, and capable folks to do a lot of this stuff over here.”
Opinion
Zindler: The IRA is the most important solar legislation ever passed
“We have the most important piece of legislation ever passed to support the solar industry that is being rolled out and implemented now with a lot of open questions around that.”
Assertion Supported
Zindler: COVID-era solar supply chain bottlenecks and high prices are easing
“The era of COVID and the tight supply chains and the elevated prices that it created that's easing now. And there's a lot of new capacity on the global market that is coming.”