DOE on solar supply risks - Sol-Up Solar

Relying on Asia for imports could pose a risk to U.S. solar growth, a top Department of Energy official told Axios in an interview, Jael Holzman reports.

Why it matters: The department is shedding light on where it believes there is risk in the solar supply chain (China) — and where there isn’t — ahead of aggressive oversight from House Republicans.

What they’re saying: “There are certainly supply chain risks that come from having manufacturing concentrated in China and Southeast Asia,” DOE Solar Energy Technologies Office director Becca Jones-Albertus said.

  • “We certainly want a more diverse geographic footprint and we would really like to have more of that here at home.”

The big picture: Chinese parts are getting riskier for U.S. solar firms.

  • The Commerce Department recently found that some of the largest solar module suppliers — all operating in China — are illegally dodging U.S. anti-dumping tariffs by routing shipments through other Asian countries.

Yes, but: Jones-Albertus said solar has one big advantage over other low-carbon products: There’s no shortage of the minerals it needs.

  • Raw materials for making solar technology — like quartz — are found in abundance domestically, and around the world, so solar may not face the kinds of resource shortage problems befuddling batteries.

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