this post was submitted on 12 Dec 2024
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[–] [email protected] 73 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I’m sure that’s a much more effective than trying to build up US companies to make solar panels.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Both are happening at the same time. A new plant for domestic wafer production is coming online in parallel to this.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Where are they getting the material for wafers? Seems like 1 step forward and 3 steps backwards.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 week ago (1 children)

How is domestic silicon manufacturing in any way a "step back"?

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Where is the sources for the material coming from? I don’t think most people realize that “domestic manufacturing” includes imported materials majority of the time which is getting tariffed.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Where is the sources for the material coming from? I don’t think most people realize that “domestic manufacturing” includes imported materials majority of the time which is getting tariffed.

The USA does produce polysilicon domestically, which is the main raw material in wafers and ignots. Since the plant isn't operational yet there is no report of where they are getting their polysilicon.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I think they're asking where the raw materials come from , i.e. the silicon to make the polysilicon. Usually sand is refined for this purpose; a lot of which comes from the Gobi desert in China.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I placed this info elsewhere. Refinery building in Tennessee, query in Canada. At least that's one company shooting to use the silicon for EV batteries. Makes sense because GM built their battery plant here in Tennessee as well. So they could likely ship within the state once refined. (Trump's tarrifs on Canada obviously being an issue)

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (2 children)

build up US companies to make solar panels.

One would expect it to have that effect. If X is more expensive to obtain abroad, then you'll tend to have more domestic capacity being developed -- as long as it's believed that the tariffs aren't going to go away in the near future, since otherwise, anyone investing in solar manufacturing capacity stands to lose their investment.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Except this move is likely less about promoting domestic solar production and more about protecting oil, gas, and coal by making green energy alternatives more expensive.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Exactly, if that was the only way to produce electricity maybe there is an argument that tariffs will stimulate domestic production, but in this case i think this will just hinder the transition to renewable energy sources.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Your second part is why I've been saying we won't be building factories.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

We are building the refinery in Tennessee, and the Quary is in Canada. 1 company is Sonova Global.

So naturally the Tariffs against Canada will be us making our local refinery pay more to import materials from their own company's query across the border

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

FYI, it's spelled quarry. That is all.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Haha, I spelled it wrong twice, talented