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Bloomberg
Republican senators from five states with big solar farms are asking the Trump administration to exempt the workhorse of industrial solar panels from tariffs imposed earlier this year.
The group of eight senators led by North Carolina’s Thom Tillis urged the administration to waive duties on 72-cell, 1,500-volt panels that are ideal for large ground-mounted “utility-scale†projects, according to a letter which was tweeted by the Solar Energy Industries Association. The panels are too big for household rooftops and are only used on giant solar farms or vast, flat-topped warehouses.
“That’s the Ford F-150 of the solar world,†said Jeffrey Osborne, an industry analyst at Cowen & Co. Shielding those panels from 30 percent import tariffs would also likely increase costs for residential rooftops as the supply chain shifts to the duty-free products. “Ironically, it would hurt consumers the most.†Much of the solar power produced by developers in states like North Carolina, South Carolina and Colorado comes from the large modules the senators are seeking to exempt. The move would cut the developers’ costs and spur solar job growth, according to the letter dated May 9 that they sent to US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.