Solar power industry sees rays of growth in Georgia

[OKIsItJustMe]

https://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/business/article229326934.html

Solar power industry sees rays of growth in Georgia

By MARY LANDERS, The Savannah Morning News The Associated Press
April 20, 2019 12:01 AM, Updated April 16, 2019 02:11 PM

SAVANNAH, Ga.

The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy last week released "Solar in the Southeast 2018," its second annual report on solar expansion.

"Solar growth continues in the Southeast (adding 65 percent in 2018)," the report states. "The region will surpass 10,000 MW in 2019. SACE now anticipates 19,000 MW by 2022, up from our prior projection of 15,000 by 2021."

…

"Using the unbiased watts per customer metric, we are also able to see which states and utilities are continuing to fall behind and need a serious course correction to avoid denying customers the economic and environmental and benefits of clean solar power. We hope that the facts presented in this report will continue to serve as a helpful tool as utilities and regulators throughout the region advance in their renewable energy planning."

Georgia and the state's largest utility, Georgia Power, are still regional leaders in solar, but other states and are catching up and some are pulling ahead. For example, the state's watts per customer solar ratio last year of 280 is higher than the Southeast average of 269, but will require "additional ambition to avoid falling below average by 2022," they report.

…

https://cleanenergy.org/wp-content/uploads/2018-SE-Solar-Report-FINAL.pdf

[SHRED]

1. Are imported panels still facing steep tRump tariffs?

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. Unfortunately, yes

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-25/a-year-after-trump-taxed-solar-imports-there-s-one-big-winner
climate changed

Big Winner from Trump's Solar Tariffs Didn't Even Ask for Them
By Will Wade
and Brian Eckhouse
March 25, 2019, 6:00 AM EDT

It’s been a little over a year since President Donald Trump slapped tariffs on solar equipment imports in the name of American jobs and manufacturing.

Since then, one of the U.S. panel makers that fought for the duties has been acquired, and the other is bankrupt. U.S. solar jobs fell 3.2 percent last year. And it turns out the one clear winner is an American manufacturer that has plants in Vietnam and Malaysia and didn’t even initially ask for the duties.

First Solar Inc., which sells more than any other U.S. solar manufacturer, is the biggest beneficiary because it use a particular technology that isn’t covered by the tariffs -- even though many of its panels are made overseas.

…

The clearest losers, meanwhile, are U.S. solar farm developers, who blame the tariffs for driving up equipment prices and slowing projects.

…

[Finishline42]

3. As designed

The clearest losers, meanwhile, are U.S. solar farm developers, who blame the tariffs for driving up equipment prices and slowing projects.

This was the #1 priority.

There's really no real advantage in having a solar PV plant in the US. The technology will change so fast that the life span of any plant is limited. It's like having a flat screen tv plant - can you imagine a community celebrating the opening of a plasma screen plant only to lose all those jobs when first LCD then LED screens took over the market?

[OKIsItJustMe]

4. Of course, if you have a business making one variety of solar panel...

…you’ll have a “leg up” on selling the new technology.