If you are Thinking of Buying Solar--NOW May be the Time

[akrvbob]

President Trump is considering adding a large tariff to imported Solar Panels causing their costs to increase, possibly dramatically. Some of the major Solar builders are buying them up and warehousing them out of fear of increases. 

If you've thought about solar, now rather than later may save you some money:

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-solar-insight-idUSKBN1AA0BI

[font=freight-book, serif]LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. solar companies are snapping up cheap imported solar panels ahead of a trade decision by the Trump administration that could drive up costs and cloud the fortunes of one of the economy's brightest stars....[/font]

[font=freight-book, serif][size=large][font=freight-book, serif]Installations in the United States last year hit a record. Jobs are mushrooming too. The domestic industry now employs more than 260,000 people, according to The Solar Foundation, most of them construction workers hammering panels on rooftops and erecting utility-scale solar plants in the nation's blistering deserts.[/font]

[font=freight-book, serif]But signs of a chill are already visible as the industry waits to see how President Donald Trump responds to a recent trade complaint lodged by a Georgia manufacturer named Suniva. The company has asked the administration effectively to double the price of imported solar panels so that U.S. factories can compete.[/font][/font][/size]

[font=freight-book, serif][size=large][font=freight-book, serif][size=large][font=freight-book, serif]Ed Fenster, chairman of San Francisco-based Sunrun ([font=freight-book, serif]RUN.O[/font]), said moves by Trump to punish foreign manufacturers could harm American blue collar workers he has vowed to help. The solar industry employs more than five times as many workers as the coal mining industry that Trump has championed.[/font]

[font=freight-book, serif]"A solar-panel tax imperils what our country needs most: well-paying jobs that can't be exported or automated," Fenster said[/font][/font][/size][/font][/size]

 

[Putts]

*sigh*

 

[jimindenver]

They just added a tariff a few years back.

 

[ValerieP]

How soon? I read the article- Sept 22 to decide if harm exists and Nov 13 for advice on how to proceed- raise prices? I will have to ramp up my solar research! Any idea if there any places in Pahrump that sell solar or could help with my research?
Thanks for the heads up!

 

[XFILE36]

Anyone know the latest/greatest/cheapest panels to date? Where to purchase?

 

[Weight]

We are starting to see stirrings of separation of power returning to our government. President It Self can not place tariffs, it requires Congress. Congress requires our input and our votes. In the time now, many solar panels are made in the USA. Perhaps with imported components but still with USA workers. Look at Renogy.

 

[Vagabound]

How soon? I read the article- Sept 22 to decide if harm exists and Nov 13 for advice on how to proceed- raise prices? I will have to ramp up my solar research! Any idea if there any places in Pahrump that sell solar or could help with my research?
Thanks for the heads up!

No, but having had a good look at what's available in Pahrump recently, I'd suggest looking to Vegas for that type of resource.  There would certainly be a lot more.

Tom

 

[jonsun]

We need a hero

 

[Gary68]

"U.S. solar companies are snapping up cheap imported solar panels "
wish they would list the companies so i could avoid them

they are able to make these cheap even after shipping them around the world because they work people 12 hours a day for a cup of rice and corrugated tin roofs and have no environmental laws,the manufacturing of solar panels if fairly toxic

i'm no fan of the man but do support a honest day wage for a honest days work and quality products which is why i shop ma and pa and not big box even if it does cost $10 more

 

[Kathleen]

How soon? I read the article- Sept 22 to decide if harm exists and Nov 13 for advice on how to proceed- raise prices? I will have to ramp up my solar research! Any idea if there any places in Pahrump that sell solar or could help with my research?
Thanks for the heads up!

Exactly, time to ramp up the research. Need help selecting the right system for my needs and with install in Northern New Mexico.

 

[itsmeagain]

  ugh..  I'm still in the designing phase and trying to save up the extra cash..  this really bummed me out.

Hopefully I'll be able to get in before the price hikes... but panels don't last forever.  What's the plan going forward?

Do you think we could take this into our own hands and design a DIY solution sourced from individual solar cells?

Maybe a group of the more knowledgeable members could create an online store and make some money?

Granted, from the posts above it seems lots of care needs to be taken due to potential toxicity.
Is this something we're just going to have to rely on China for?

 

[tx2sturgis]

Granted, from the posts above it seems lots of care needs to be taken due to potential toxicity.
Is this something we're just going to have to rely on China for?

Pretty much.

The manufacturing process for ALL 'high tech' electronics is terribly toxic to the local environment.

That's why its all done, 'over there'.

We Americans, well, we like the goodies, but we dont want the toxic air, water, and land that results from the manufacturing of the products, from dirt, to device.

We can still 'assemble' stuff here, soldering chips on boards, or inserting silicon wafers in a frame, but most of the parts are foreign components.

Unless you can get the EPA to change its mind, and are willing to deal with very high levels of strip mining, dirty factories, toxic dumps, chemically polluted water, sickened workers, dirty air, and pollution all over our country, its gonna be that way for the foreseeable future.

This was NOT political ranting or anti-capitalism. Its just fact.

 

[itsmeagain]

This was NOT political ranting or anti-capitalism. Its just fact.

Not to worry, it didn't' come across as such. 
Just stating the current facts about the state of the industry, and the realities of some of the consequences for producing these materials.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Not to worry, it didn't' come across as such.

Sorry, I get antsy in anticipation of being 'shushed'....

Many, no, MOST Americans believe that all the corporations moved manufacturing off shore for lower wages. End of Story.

And....

You can find LOTS of examples of jobs being moved to Mexico or China. We are hit with that stuff every day.

Sure, a seamstress assembling jeans in a Mexico City factory makes less money than her counterpart who was doing it in say, Atlanta, Georgia. The seamstress unions are in the media telling us all about it.

The clothing company gets hit with all the typical negatives. So we are habituated to think that way.

But when it comes to high tech electronics, the primary reason for outsourcing is that for almost everything that goes into the manufacture of the materials and  components there is no legal, safe, or clean way to do it in here, or it is horrendously expensive to do.

We typically refer to this as NIMBY.

Not In My Back Yard.

Rant over, I'll be quiet.

PS:

Bob, thanks for the tip on the panels, I plan to order me a couple!

 

[jonsun]

You don't have and we never have been rock to table manufacturing....it's ok to import raw materials.

 

[CatCaretaker]

Is there any way to manufacture solar panels *without* fouling the environment? Maybe not the cheapest, but a safer way?

I'm a solar newbie and still learning about these systems... I am an eternal optimist tho

 

[tx2sturgis]

Is there any way to manufacture solar panels *without* fouling the environment?

I love solar panels. LOVE them. They make living off-grid possible, practical, and comfortable. I have been to HUGE power plants that are completely solar powered.

Even if you dont own a single panel, everything you do on the internet is at least partially powered by solar (and wind) energy.

Facebook for instance, is building a HUGE data center in New Mexico that will use thousands of solar panels to run the servers and climate control inside the building.

I own several panels, and have been using them for 20 years on various RV's and trucks, vans, and trailers. I have ordered 2 more just because Bob gave us the heads up, again, thanks Bob.

But, take my word for it, manufacturing solar panels in large quantities in the USA would most likely be a BAD thing.

This article talks about the manufacturing of the cells, but never even mentions the mining of bauxite and manufacture of the aluminum frames:

http://spectrum.ieee.org/green-tech/solar/solar-energy-isnt-always-as-green-as-you-think

Here's a 'gentle' article about bauxite mining:

https://recyclenation.com/2010/11/aluminum-extraction-recycling-environment/

Just saying.

We are a NIMBY nation.

 

[user 423]

Sometimes it hurts being green...

 

[tx2sturgis]

Sometimes it hurts being green...

Yep.

At least the cardboard box they come in is 'green'...until you burn it at the build site!

 

[slynne]

Alas, I am not going have a vehicle in time. 

As for clean solar, I may be pollyannish but I have faith in American ingenuity. I think that we can develop a way to manufacture solar panels cleanly and cheaply in the USA. As an armchair economist I know that in addition to the bad effects of a tariff (higher costs to consumers, retaliation in the form of tariffs on our exports, and a loss of comparative advantage efficiency), some good will come from a tariff. It will at least give solar companies an incentive to invest in R & D of ways to manufacture solar panels cheaply and without harming the environment.

Still, it might be an incentive for me to put a solar panel cart in front of my van horse. Maybe I will at least get one of those portabe "suitcase" panels just in case?