According to the quarterly solar market report released March 15 by GTM Research, U.S. solar energy installation growth is expected to slow in the coming years, due in part to new tariffs on panel imports and new federal tax laws.
Eric Schiff is a professor and Physics Department Chair at Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences. He doesn’t see steel tariffs as a problem for the solar installation industry. Schiff believes the cost savings of unsubsidized solar electricity will keep it thriving in the long run.
Schiff says:
“I don’t think that the problem with solar installations is the steel tariffs. Tariffs were already applied to solar module imports last year. These tariffs protect the rather small number of surviving solar module manufacturers in the U.S. They also make the price of solar modules higher in the U.S. than in the rest of the world. As the media has reported, the main impact of the U.S. solar tariffs will be a temporary decrease in the number of U.S. jobs installing solar modules.
“Despite these difficulties, the future for solar installations is very bright in the U.S. For veterans such as myself, it is amazing that the price of electricity from solar modules has decreased almost 100 times since I started my own research work in semiconductors almost 40 years ago. And the price of solar modules is still declining rapidly on the world market, which is unaffected by the U.S. tariffs.
“In many locations, and despite the tariffs, unsubsidized solar electricity is still cheaper to add than electricity from other sources such as natural gas-fired generators. The setback to the U.S. industry should only be temporary.”
To request interviews or get more information:
Daryl Lovell
Media Relations Manager
Division of Communications and Marketing
T 315.443.1184 M 315.380.0206
dalovell@syr.edu | @DarylLovell
820 Comstock Avenue, Suite 308, Syracuse, NY 13244
news.syr.edu | syracuse.edu
Syracuse University
School of Information Studies Associate Professor Lu Xiao has been recognized for research that employs multiple methodologies to examine the factors surrounding a comment’s persuasive power on social media, and the ability of those comments to change viewpoints that have…
For those looking up at the sky tonight in North America, you may notice something missing – the moon! That’s because July 31 marks a lunar event called the “black moon” which is the second new moon that happens in…
While still undergraduate students, Kyle Hobart ’19, Julia Telesca ’19, Jacklyn Hingre ’19, Veronica Diaz Lafferty ’19 and Nathan Johnson ’19 were already working with an international company—Millennium Engineering. For their senior design project, the team took on the task…
Syracuse University’s ranking as a top-tier research institution demonstrates a perpetual commitment to creating new, diverse knowledge. And, extraordinary research does much more than produce unique scientific insight. It also sparks remarkable educational experiences and outcomes for students in every…
For more than 15 years, Edward A. “Ed” Bogucz has helped put Syracuse University at the forefront of addressing global challenges for cleaner energy and healthier built environments. Now, the founding executive director of SyracuseCoE, New York State’s Center of…
If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.
