L R AS Published on Sunday 20 September 2020 - n° 332 - Categories:US policy
SEIA union wants more PV industries in the US
If the United States has a panel production capacity of 7 GW per year, this corresponds to a third of the annual installations. The American union SEIA estimates that the US should have a production capacity of 100 GW of renewable energy (solar, wind, storage).
The organisation
calls for major investments by the states and the federal government to develop a wide range of products for solar energy. In order to reach the target of 100 GW to make solar energy 20% of the total US electricity production by 2030, industrial capacities for the production of ingots, wafers, cells, solar glass and machine tools need to be developed. It would also be a question of increasing the national availability of key metals for batteries, notably nickel, manganese and cobalt.
The last ten years have shown global competition and the intervention of foreign governments in export markets. For example, American manufacturers have limited access to the Chinese market since 2013 due to customs duties. SEIA stresses the need not to be overly dependent on imports. Incentives should support the growth of US renewable energy production and encourage US and foreign manufacturers to invest in US production capacity. The US government must invest in its manufacturers to be competitive.
The importance of long-term investment includes both supply and demand incentives, as one without the other cannot sustain a strong U.S. renewable energy manufacturing base in the face of intense global competition". SEIA calls for many measures to encourage investment and manufacturing.
PV Tech of 14 September
Editor's note Coronavirus or not, all countries are becoming aware of their dependence on China and want to do something about it. If not all of them will succeed, reductions in dependency should emerge.
